July 18, 2024 ~ Thursday (another hot day expected – oh joy!)
It has been one of those mornings. I’m grumpy due to the heat (more of the same) and isolation (my summer of silence due to throat surgery continues). I have had far too many friends and friends’ dogs and neighbors pass away in the last two weeks than I ever want to experience again. The political climate is too hot and a disaster. I’m on meds that are akin to a supervised starvation plan. And, I’m waiting for the Roto-Rooter guy.
Enough said.
And, I’m crying. But – not for any of those above reasons. I just read a blog post (about “labeling” … https://webandworld.substack.com), written by my 39-year-old son (how did he get to be such an adult/of that age?) … and these are tears of sweetness … tears of understanding … tears of pride.
I have great kids. I don’t know how it happened but they both have this mindset – the one that my son wrote about today. Luck of the draw? Life of example? Society/environmental influences? I don’t know. What I do know is that in today’s world “things” seem to be going backwards by leaps and bounds for human and women’s rights, religious and love/relationship freedoms, racial and cultural acceptance, personal identities … dare I go on? And yet, I have two kids that don’t judge any person by the color of their skin, their cultural background, their personality identity, where they live or who they love. They see others as humans not the labels that society KEEPS putting on people for all reasons. I love and admire them for that.
I am in my Summer of Silence … on book #17 or so in a month. I can’t talk but I can read! And I’m reading fluff because it’s all I can stomach right now with all that is happening in the “real” world. This fluff takes me to elite cocktail parties, museum openings, and fancy galas in old Charleston … events dripping with southern gentility, silks, 24K gold jewelry, and mint juleps. All set in resplendent mansions filled with antiques I would die to see or in the lush, fragrant gardens of my dreams. Anyway – I can partake in all the festivities and never leave my chair! But, I’m writing the author because it’s been bugging me – she is very descriptive in her writing, however, the only “labels” she puts on people is that of “African American” characters in her books. Why label? Why is there that need to do so? Why not just describe the pretty shop keeper as the one with sienna colored hair and beautiful, burnished mahogany skin instead of African American? She describes someone else as a portly male with thinning silver hair and a florid complexion … we get the picture but she never says he’s Caucasian/White. I’m writing her. Why label? Haven’t we overcome that? Don’t we know better? Aren’t we better?
Apparently not. Sigh. I watched some of the RNC convention this week. I’ve watched and read the news coverage on several channels and from different outlets and it’s all too depressing. And scary. Our politicians and those supporting them are spewing vitriolic messages … most of their speeches are full of lies, innuendos, accusations, insinuated violence, ugliness, and pure hate. So much anger. So many lies. No integrity or conscience. I watched one woman, whose parents are both in jail for tax evasion and fraud – and yet she blamed the legal system. Is there no decency left? No humility? No knowing right from wrong not just what you can get away with or blame someone else for? How did we get here?
How did we get to a place, three months from another Presidential election – where our country’s two top candidates are who they are? How is that possible? One is a lying fraud who cheats, mocks, steals, incites violence, is an unethical sexual predator and racist, as well as a 34 felonies-convicted criminal (and then some) who consorts with criminals and is besties with global dictators and wants to be one himself … and the other one is seemingly 3000 years old, looking at best like he’s lost and needs help finding the end of the buffet line. He should never have said he was going to run for reelection – ever! How did we get here? These are out BEST choices? In a country of 333.3 million people – these are the most qualified and best????
(And an aside – which, oddly, just made me feel a bit better about all of this. I’m not one into angel numbers, etc but 333.3 is a very positive “angel number”. It is believed to set plans into action and lets personal strengths flourish and guides choices. It is also connected with optimism, creativity and intuition. So maybe this number will help guide us to being kinder, gentler, less hate-filled, compassionate, and understanding. Maybe.)
What I stated about our candidates isn’t about labels or opinion (well, Biden isn’t 3000 years old but getting close) but facts. Age is real. So is criminal conviction. What happened to the highest office in our country being revered? Remember when you were little and the BEST “job” someone could think of was to be President of the United States? Now it’s a very sad, scary, pathetic, hate-filled position. One of big bucks and power. We are in trouble.
The political climate is too hot. This is a country founded on freedoms … I just don’t know how we got here (again) and why everyone is so ugly, so hell-bent on getting rid of others that don’t think or look or act like they do. I have friends who no longer feel safe in this country because of their religious beliefs, ethnic backgrounds, and skin color. Now how awful is that for a country that is full of immigrants and says it embraces its melting pot mentality?
I long to live in a peaceful Utopian civilization/world where people – of every color, background, belief can co-exist, enjoy life, and learn from one another. Embrace, share, and learn from our differences. No hatred, no fear, no need for power, and certainly no labels. Afterall, beneath our skin and fears … we are more similar than most people think.