Be Embarrassed but be Patient

Reading and watching a wide variety of news sources is very important. Trusting just one is foolish. Including international news sources provides even greater insight. NEVER trust one that says they are the ONLY one reporting truth. I won't watch Fox News for that reason. They truly represent fake news. It's embarrassing.
But I have found a way to follow what's reported on Fox News. Just watch the Facebook pages of people who do. It's easy to figure out who those people are. They deny the reporting of every other major news source; national and international. They constantly post things like, "if you're upset about apples, why aren't you talking about oranges." And they will rabidly attack when questioned or if their misinformation is pointed out. It's embarrassing.
The effect on this nation has been disturbing. It's about relationships. Fox News has served as the voice of this president, echoing whatever lie or conspiracy theory he wants to spread and creating division in its wake. The only way lies work is if the recipient is convinced to listen to only one source for information. Ironically, many of these viewers will say "You can't believe any of them." But they are believing someone who is telling them that, over and over again. It's embarrassing.
Fortunately, our country is better than this. We have aspired to higher principles and voices are raising up from all corners of society to say "Enough is Enough!" We can love apples AND love oranges. We can include all voices and listen to a variety of voices. We can see with our own eyes and hear with our own ears. When what we see and what we hear do not match with a narrative, we can say so. Voices are rising up, all over the world.
It's important to know what the Fox News narrative is but truth will always prevail. Be embarrassed but be patient. Seek truth and walk softly. Truth has a long reach.

I take a Knee!

Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem in peaceful protest of the injustices and systemic problems he saw. He, and those who joined him, suffered repercussions and were accused of disrespecting the flag and insulting veterans. Their message was shouted down. They were ignored and overwhelmed. They needed to be controlled.
Black Lives Matters protested peacefully across the nation. They were shouted down with "All Lives Matter", and their message was ignored. They needed to be controlled.
Now focus of some is centered on the wrongdoing of looters and those who are violent. There is a slight hint of recognition that the police responsible for killing George Floyd were wrong, but again, the message of protesters is being ignored. They need to be controlled.
Tracy Chapman once said, "There’s only so far you can push people before they start to push back,..." Those resorting to looting and violence are shoving back.
I abhor violence and cannot condone looting and stealing. But what is it going to take to get this nation to listen and actually work on systemic changes? What is it going to take? When are we going to stop shouting down those who try to peacefully protest?
This president had peaceful protesters violently remove from where he wanted to walk for a photo op. This president called for liberation of a state where heavily armed white men took over a capital building. There was no call to control those people.
How would he react if heavily armed black men took over a state capital building? Would there be a call for liberation? Would there be an outcry for 2nd amendment rights? Likely NOT!
What is most frustrating to me is that we have so failed as a nation to solve systemic problem and now those on the front line are overwhelmed in addressing the fallout. We have failed our good police officers. They are confronting the fallout of the failure of our mental health system. They are confronting the fallout of the failure of our economic system. They are confronting the fallout from the failure of our education system. They are overwhelmed.
Now the military is being called out to deal with the fallout. "They" need to be controlled. The problem is that actual change will come slowly. And if there are not fast results, the anger that is now a rage will grow. Military resistance will not work. If we want peace, we must be peace.
Peace begins with each of us. I am taking a knee!

Not "of" this world

Be in this world but not "of" this world. That thought is central to my joke about certainty that I am from another planet. Thinking about the origins of that certainty is a determination to not allow what was happening around me to shake me to the core. What was happening in my life then, and much of what I see happening now, are things I did not/do not want to allow to change my spirit.
They are around me but I do not want to let them inside. It is a great challenge. I'm convinced that central to creating a safety shield is the level of fear that rises inside. The opposite of love is not hate. It is fear.
Fear can drive us to do and say things we would not do in love. Fear makes us weak in the knees. And fear drives anger.
Of course, some fear is a very real survival response. If a semi is heading straight toward you, hopefully your natural fear response helps you react quickly enough to get out of the way. Hopefully fear keeps you from jumping off a cliff.
But if you mitigate the risk of "splat" at the bottom of the cliff, fear can be overcome and actually end in an exhilarating experience. Parasails and kite gliders help to transcend fear.
If we don't want fear to drive us, our power lies in properly assessing risk and doing what we can to mitigate the risk. When I can do this, fear does not grow into hate and anger. It's when I believe I am powerless that fear drives me in a negative way.
We cannot control what others do. Rarely will anger help us or them. What can we do to shield ourselves from an actually risk others pose (well assessed) and to protect our spirit? If we can slow our response, careful not to stoke emotional fire within, we can better consider the risk and our ability to mitigate it.
Often, I first write. What just happened? That's my first step in processing. Within this blogger, there remain many drafts that were never shared. And perhaps there are some shared that should have remained drafts. In any case, I find writing to be a great way to begin grounding. My next step is to adjust what I can control. With age, it's become more important for me to ask myself if my thoughts and actions are spiritually true for me. I can control my thoughts and actions. I can prepare for possible dangers.
My faith lies in spiritual truth. That truth will rise above my own frailties and overcome those dangers that may arise. Truth will rise above everything and it will prevail. Resting in that assurance calms me and it is the source of my inner power - universal power.

Even if I don't say a word

I had a most interesting experience in recent days. A customer needed a few specific things and we had a very nice exchange. I learned a little about his personal story and got to hear an amazing voice. As he prepared to leave, he paused and offered encouraging words.
"Things will get better soon," he said.
And then, like the flip of a switch, he grew quite animated.
"Just don't believe a thing you hear on mainstream media," he said with arms motioning, "it's all lies."
We were wearing masks so he could only see my eyes which must have widened.
"Trump is the savior of this country!" His voice grew in intensity, "I don't care what anyone says about him."
My eyes must have grown wider but I didn't say a word.
And he grew more animated, pointing at me.
"You're a SOCIALIST!" He accused. Then he pushed the door open and pointed again. "You're a SOCIALIST!"
I turned to my sister whom I was happy was nearby. "What did I say?"
Her eyes were wide too. "Nothing."
And so it is with today's world. Pleasant situations can turn on a dime. And I guess there's a new savior. And I'm an anti-savior. Even if I don't say a word.

It's Ground Hog Day.....Again

Wash, rinse, shake it off. Wash, rinse, shake it off. Repeat.

When this president says something he should not say or something crazy, there is a cycle of defense. It goes like this:

He didn't say that.
Then there's a transcript or video where he clearly did say that.

It was taken out of context.
When the full context shows it's definitely not different in full context....

He didn't mean it.
When that falls flat, cue up the next response.

He was joking.
When that falls flat, cue up the next response.

You're stupid for believing what you heard.
OR It doesn't matter because someone else did something as bad or worse.

Wash, rinse, shake it off. Repeat.

Best to just sit back, get out the popcorn and believe it's Ground Hog day all over again.

Perspective and the Challenge of Balance

Some months ago, a Facebook acquaintance posted an anti-Trump meme attributing a quote to him that was derogatory. I'm not a Trump fan but, for some reason, I decided to fact check it and learned that he had not actually said it. I shared what I had learned. She thanked me and took the meme down.
Recently, again on Facebook, I saw a post that attributed the COVID-19 virus to a scheme created by some Harvard professor. Fact checking showed that he was in trouble for misuse of funds, but not the creation of this pandemic. I shared what I had learned. I was outright dismissed. And the fact finding site I linked to was dismissed as "liberal". My guess is ANY fact finding resources would be dismissed as "liberal". Perhaps fact finding is now a "liberal" endeavor.
I made the mistake of writing a blog about clues to use in sorting stories that may be misleading. I did not post it under their meme or name anyone. But WOW did I get blasted on my page.
Today, again on Facebook, a friend shared a version of that Harvard professor story. She seemed to post it as wondering about it's possibility. So, I took a deep breath and shared what I had learned. She thanked me. But she might be "liberal" leaning.
I'm a curious person. I like to look beyond the surface and try to understand things. I try to be respectful. I try to seek truth.
I'm a bit mystified with the often repeated "You can't believe any news" statements. I want to ask, what are you believing? You are getting information from somewhere. What is making that information more compelling?
The things I'm seeing, don't match with that reality.
As COVID-19 broke out in China, I had my annual doctor visit. It was early February. He encouraged me to boost my immune system. I love that he is very into a supplement routine. And he said, this virus was coming. "We don't know when, but it will come."
So, I boosted. And I watched international news - BBC and Sky News. People I knew across the political aisle, expressed disbelief about the reporting from China. I think they were right, but maybe not always from the perspective they expressed. I watched Italy.
As I heard our leadership dismiss this virus as "like the flu", I continued to watch Italy. But I did take note as those around me expressed that many people die of flu each year. And, at the time I was concerned, mid-February, less than 1000 people had died due to COVID 19.
I researched flu seasons to see if there were times our health systems were overwhelmed. Indeed, there were pockets of flu outbreak in 2016 that overwhelmed local hospitals. And last year about 35,000 people died in the US from flu related illness.
But Italy's problems grew. And then, we passed Italy. We followed their path. In just 8 weeks, we have lost nearly 44,000 people due to this virus. And this has happened while much of our country is shut down. This is not "like the flu". This is one of those virus' that come along every 100 years or so.
It's also not some nefarious plot to derail this president any more than the Spanish flu was an attempt to derail President Wilson's presidency. Now, in hindsight, it appears that flu didn't originate in Spain at all. Decades from now, it may be discovered that COVID-19 didn't originate in China. There's so much we don't know.
What we do know is that this is a deadly virus - most deadly for those who are elderly and/or have underlying health issues. What is healthy to debate is how to best address it. It's painful. The question is, how much death is acceptable to offset the economic impact of extreme measures? If you feel there is little risk to you or those close to you, you likely feel that personal freedom and economic conditions are most important. Open up. If you feel there is great risk, no amount of money is worth the risk. If you are hurting financially, you may be somewhere in the middle.
What's not healthy is getting caught up in fringe arguments that have nothing to do with the real problem. Health versus money is the real issue. What's the balance that is socially acceptable by the majority of citizens. The majority of our governing bodies have been focused on the health side.
Where do we go from here? I wish I knew that answer.

Get smart. Get focused. Be part of staying Well.

Recognizing that we all have a bias is, for me, very important. I work hard to keep myself open to varied perspectives. Weeks ago I was struck by an important fact someone important to me shared. Last year, more than 34,000 people died from the flu in the US. At the time, deaths by COVID-19 in the US were a fraction of that. And we were shutting down parts of our country. It caused me pause.
And I researched. I watched documentaries about the Spanish flu of early last century. I watched international reporting from Italy and Europe. I researched the impact on past years of flu in the US. Were there times our health systems were overwhelmed?
Indeed, in 2016, there were 3 cities in the US that were overwhelmed by flu outbreaks. So, I watched the news with this perspective. And I saw another, then another, and another area of our country growing overwhelmed with COVID-19. It appeared to be larger in a short amount of time, but fatalities were not yet nearing the 34,000 from last year's flu. Were we over reacting?
Today, as I write this, we are quickly nearing historic numbers. We are not yet 2 months into this pandemic. Today alone, the number of fatalities have grown more than 2500. Soon we will be past the fatalities from last years flu. This, in just a few months! We have shut down much of our economy with draconian efforts to keep people distant. We did not do this last year to avoid the flu nor did we react this way when cities were overwhelmed in 2016.
The perspective provided me, by awareness of flu numbers past, would tell me that this is different. And just as I feel that listening to perspective has helped in my understanding, I see that now we must question fatality reporting. Supposedly, NY has over reported by 4000 deaths.
As I watch reporting,  I see a story about someone who could not get tested and after death, his widow learned he had COVID-19. So, I if I subtract that, 3999 might be questionable. How many should I add that have not been properly attributed as deaths due to COVID-19?
Do I believe that somehow, for some nefarious reason, people are over reporting or under reporting? The reporting is coming from people - people on the front line. Do they all have some nefarious agenda?
We are in the middle of something we have not seen in a hundred years. Yes, it is important to have perspective. Vitally important! Yes, we need to carefully scrutinize the information presented. It's vitally important that we get smart and we get focused on what is important here. Our decisions on a daily basis are important. We need to get smart and we need to get focused on what keeps us all well.