T’is the season to be jolly… (but often not for a significant amount of people, or for many for the last few years, or maybe because of what’s going on in the world nowadays, or why just this season?)
Okay, take two…
T’is the season to spend… (with this insane inflation - insaniflation - it is always the season to spend and now, we have less to spend with).
Okay, take three…
T’is the season to be with family… hmmm… Here. We. Go.
Okay, take a breath…
So… things are different now. A lot of people get together with family at this time of year, whether it be for Christmas, or Hanukkah, or another holiday which usually has to do with lights. This is a topic of reflection itself, considering in the northern hemisphere, we are hovering around the darkest day of the year.
There have always been people who struggle with this because their history with blood relatives might be turbulent and problematic. After the last few years of pandemic pandemonium, many of us probably have a lot more heated and complicated family dynamics than ever.
Enough people perceived the pandemic with a different lens that many families have experienced a degree of fallout. With the general feeling that covid craziness is winding down, it seems the majority of the population wants to get back to living, or is at least okay with risking a cold so they can be human again.
Of course, there are a few (too many) exceptions of folks who tweet with hashtags like #CovidIsNotOver and #BringBackMasks…
Nonetheless, the loosening of draconian measures has people traveling, getting together, and having family gatherings for the holidays again. For many, it’s the first year this is happening since 2019.
In the time between, some have felt the sting of names called, the disappointment of antagonistic positions, and the salt in the wound of a someone close seemingly siding with agents of ‘misinformation’ - or at least that how it feels.
At times, this has translated to heated debates, anger, feelings of betrayal, and the lingering pangs of an ally turned into an enemy.
In all objective senses, for the vast majority of us, our family has not turned into our enemy. For those that this holds absolute truth, I give you my empathy and hope you find resolution and/or peace. For the rest of us, maybe it’s time to take a breath, a step back, and re-evaluate.
That being said, I want to acknowledge that it isn’t easy to quell the boiling blood that arises when those who supposedly ‘have your back’ cast you aside like a leper. It can put fire in one’s belly when a close relative (or friend) sides with agencies, media, or politicians they have no direct personal relationship with over you. Trust me, I know the feeling.
I think part of us deeply wants those we’ve known for a long time (or all our lives) to stand with us, in unison, with regards to what might be the most pivotal perspective of our lives. We feel a burning for the need to right injustice, to release the fear and manipulation that have been thrust upon us, and to return to the fundamentals of healthy human connection and traditional ways.
We can let strangers and casual acquaintances slip away into existences of perpetual masking, sanitizing, boosting, and hiding from an attenuating virus that has been potentially treatable and not that severe for most all along. But it is a lot harder to release those close to us to the black hole of all-encompassing covid paranoia.
We want to help them. We want to save them. We really want to connect with them again.
We can’t save them though. They need to save themselves. I wrote more about this last week when I mentioned the Linji Yixuan quote, “if you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him”.
They need to find their own way, especially when things remain raw with emotion. Humans believe they make decisions rationally but emotion always underlies them. When emotion is high, reason is often highly compromised. Practically speaking, we likely won’t convince anyone of anything if they are highly emotional about it.
This becomes problematic when the topic is so emotionally charged.
I KNOW…
… I get emotionally charged when I think about how my children were impacted by the pandemic restrictions and discriminated against because they did not conform to the EMOTIONALLY-based, societally-pressured decision to get a gene software installation that commands the body to produce and internally spread a cytotoxic spike protein without an operational off switch (which they deceptively call a vaccine). [Deep breath]
I want justice. I want recognition that my family, MY CHILDREN, were treated unfairly, unlawfully, unscientifically, illogically and unethically. I especially want this from people who claim to love them and hold them as a priority. I would love an apology too.
The thing is, sadly, I don’t think I am going to get it. It is too hard for too many.
I know when I hear them talk about their views on other subjects that the pandemic has not shaken them from their cultural programming. Fortunately, I believe this episode in history has shaken many from their slumber and made them realize the insidious nature of the programming coming from the government, media, and other cultural influences.
Unfortunately for me, as far as I can currently tell, this is not the case with my extended family.
Maybe you can relate… especially if this is the first time since the pandemic has been declared that you are connecting in person for an attempt at your family traditions.
Maybe it feels like this could be the chance to bring them over. The goalie is out of the net and you have the puck. Whoa there, it’s not that easy.
Here are some clues we aren’t going to red pill our relatives - taken from personal experience.
1. They start talking about their new TV which can be worked through voice commands, and they give an example like “go to CNN”… yeeeeah, the Church of the New Normal (CNN)… that’s not gonna work.
2. They excuse themselves when you sit down to play a family board game because “it was a big news day, and they need to watch Rachel Maddow”.
3. They still haven’t rushed up to you and said something like, “sorry, I know I was stubborn and repeated what I had heard on the news as if it was scientific, logical, and clearly back up with extensive primary evidence which I had vetted, but I have come to my senses and recognize that fear had compelled me to be irrational”.
And so on.
I know it is tempting to show them evidence of how CNN has failed over the last few years - both financially and in accurate, reliable reporting - or clips of Maddow spewing falsehoods with the assuredness of Ferris Bueller’s principal, but it just isn’t worth it.
It most likely won’t work and if it does, they might just have an existential meltdown.
So, what to do?
Find commonality.
Find commonality?
That’s going to be hard. Yup. Then should we just be silent and let it blow over?
I cannot answer that for you but I can tell you that it is very hard for me… except my extended family isn’t Fauci and they still welcome me into their homes. It behooves each of us to weigh the value of these relationships against our need for universal justice, vindication, empathy, and understanding.
Personally, I have a strong sense of justice and it is very hard for me to release any person who I feel abuses this sense of integrity. That being said, I am trying (hard) to practice equanimity, perhaps for my own well-being as well as my children’s.
Can I release Fauci from my ire? Nah.
I no longer let him boil my blood though because he is not worth it. But I will give him no amnesty. Even without emotion, I can clearly state he needs to be held accountable. Beyond his mad scientist irresponsible gain of function research (GoF) - which very well could have caused this disaster - he is responsible for influencing many of the inhumane pandemic intervention measures. He is not family. He IS the enemy.
This plea of “we are in this together” turned into:
“You should fucking die because you have not complied. That’s dangerous.” — Tim Robbins from The Covid Redemption interview with Russell Brand
And here’s where I really feel torn. People like Howard Stern, Jimmy Kimmel, Gene Simmons, Don Lemon, Piers Morgan, and others who overtly and cruelly scorned, with extreme prejudice, against the unvaccinated, do not now - or perhaps ever - get amnesty from me. They have shown themselves to be unethical and willing to pass venomous judgement on millions of people they do not know in public without pause.
If this sounds like hyperbole or unfamiliar, you can catch a small snippet of it here. While he was a guest on Wednesday’s episode of “TalkShopLive,” Gene Simmons stated, “If you're willing to walk among us unvaccinated, you are an enemy.”
Well, as far as I am concerned, until significant reparations occur, Simmons and these others are my enemy - and the enemy of human decency and morality. It is ironic that they can unabashedly make public statements with such certainty and vitriol but have no such bravado in issuing public apologies. I commend Tim Robbins for being an exception to this.
For me, there are at least three tiers here:
The first being those I will give no amnesty to regardless of their words. I feel they need to meet with justice. They knew all along and intentionally deceived or even pushed action that was harmful.
These are people like Anthony Fauci, Justin Trudeau, Rochelle Walensky, Albert Bourla, and the likes. These public health authorities, political leaders, and pharmaceutical bosses need to meet a reckoning. I give them no quarter. That being said, I will not let them boil my blood anymore. I have separated myself emotionally from their abhorrent ways and this is much better for my health and well-being.
The second being those who parroted the propaganda and chastised the nonconformists because they were either willfully blind, cognitively impaired due to fear, misled from mis/disinformation, or compelled by social pressure and programming to behave this way. They need to apologize in the same way and venue they projected their disdain. They need to commit to doing better and acknowledge how they got it wrong. If they do that, I will forgive them. I probably won’t forget but I will give them another chance.
These are people like the celebrities mentioned above and other people who I do not have longstanding direct relationships with. If this group does not make efforts to rectify their previous transgressions, it is easy for me to just sanction their exposure into my life. Gene Simmons, I don’t watch or listen to you anymore. Easy. No loss.
Some media outlets fall into this category but I also feel they might be between the first and second tiers. Outlets like CBC, The Toronto Star, CNN, the Washington Post, The Atlantic, and some others are pretty much on permanent unsubscribe for me.
The third being those who might have behaved the same as the second tier and/or did not express their rejection of the discriminatory practices pushed against those who made a personal choice to be unvaccinated or had concern about the non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) like lockdowns, masking, isolation, social distancing, etc. This group should apologize as well. They should acknowledge why they behaved this way and clearly show allegiance to those they have real relationships with rather than media pundits, public health bureaucrats, politicians, and celebrities.
This group includes close acquaintances, friends, and family. This is the hardest one, in my opinion. These are real relationships. There is real history here. This makes it harder not to hear an apology or at least an acknowledgement of the transgressions against us because these people should care about us. However, in some cases, they aren’t ready to deal with a crumbling worldview by breaking their cognitive dissonance. Their ego is protecting them against an existential meltdown.
Here, I endeavour to give them time. I will strive to rebuild these relationships or maintain them in the best way possible. Still, without an explicit apology and discussion about what happened, it will be hard for me to have deep trust in them. I can forgive them. I can still love them. I will have a hard time forgetting and it is unlikely that it will be like it was until they bear responsibility for their behavior.
Back to the holiday family gatherings… I really, really want to rant on about the government, the pharmaceutical industry, the media, the lies and manipulation, the insanity pandemic measures, the anything but “safe and effective” jabapeños, and so much more… but… I have decided not to bring it up.
If it is discussed, I will calmly offer a some perspective; however, if I am challenged and chastised, then I will (still calmly) begin my systematic deconstruction of the hegemonic covid narrative and enlighten my family with insights backed up by primary evidence. Still, I don’t see this happening because most people are conflict avoidant, especially when they have some inkling that their perspective is dubious and their debate partner is capable and informed.
Instead of heading to these dinners and gatherings ready to change minds, equipped with references, and disarming Socratic questions, I have decided to bring something that might not shift thoughts but will hopefully shift hearts. With a shifted heart, the mind is more malleable, open, and susceptible to receiving information to reshape worldviews.
I bring peace and light to the family table in the valley of the deepest, darkest days of the year. I bring the light of those of us who resisted the most insane, pervasive, psychological operation in history, and kept our humanity, our soul, our sanity (most of the time), and our hope in humanity.
Don’t get me wrong. Each of those things were challenged and certainly my hope and belief in humans has been through some very dark and precarious moments, but I refuse to let these forces take my light. I believe we all need to find a way to shine. If not for ourselves, then for our children, the future generations, and the world beyond.
Yesterday was the winter solstice. It was the darkest day of the year. Today, we move towards the light. Bring it.
Take from this what you will:
"The sun is highest in the sky in the summer solstice. The day is longest, and the night is shortest. All has bloomed or is blooming. This is the time of maximal exuberance, but at this time all that has fully expanded begins to contract. This contraction is invisible in wheatfields in June. Glorious growth abounds. Workers wipe sweat from their brows and calves and colts graze with their mothers. Yet the crops that are growing are growing toward their harvest. Within the green of the grass the withering of the grass has begun. Fall and winter are approaching. They cannot be seen, but they are overtaking the summer.
Day by day the sun sinks imperceptibly in the sky. Days become shorter. Nights grow longer. Temperatures drop, and snow arrives. The sun is lowest in the sky at the winter solstice. Light is least, and darkness is greatest. Animals and seeds rest in deep sleep. On the shortest day, this darkest day, all is compressed into one seed a potential, and a cycle completed self. This cannot be seen in snow-covered forests. All is silent, yet within the silence life stirs. The frozen quiet is moving towards its thaw. Spring and summer are overtaking the winter.
The season of contraction is moving toward the season of expansion, the growth of joy and expression, the abundance of life, the summer solstice. The cyclical dynamic - from potential to expression to harvest, from contraction to expansion and return, from breathing in to breathing out - governs the physical world. It governs the season of our lives it is the rhythm of species, star systems, and galaxies.
A flower sprouts in the spring, but is it a new flower? Its seed carries all that a previous flower was. That seed is invisible to a child in its yard. The sprout appears to a child as though by magic. New life appears the same way. The sprout amazes the child, and the neonate amazes us. The child’s explanation of the flower and our explanation of the neonate both reflect limitations of experience.
The child believes that its parents produce the sprout, because only that kind of explanation is meaningful to it. We believe that a union of sperm and egg produced the infant, because only that kind of explanation is meaningful to us. The seed from which the flower sprouts is hidden from the child, and the scene from which the infant emerges is hidden from the five senses. The seed of the infant is its soul.
The soul of the infant does not age or die. It cannot be measured or weighed, yet it is real. It determines everything about the infant. It exists before the infant is born, it exist as the infant moves through the seasons of its life, and it exists as the aged adults withers and passes away like the flowers of spring and summer. Within the soul is the wisdom and compassion that brought parents and children together and that shaped the patterns of their DNA.
All our great teachers – the Christ, Mohammed, Krishna, the Buddha, and others – spoke of dynamics that are invisible to the five senses. They called them “the Hand of God,” “creative impulses of Mind,” “Angels,” and “devils,” and more. They describe consequences that are created in the domain of the five senses that appear in non-physical realms, such as open “heaven,” “hell,” and “bardo states.”
All our greatest teachers shared the same message: there is more to this life that you live then you can see. You are connected to events, experiences, and others in the realm of the five senses and other realms that you do not perceive, in ways that you do not understand. What you choose and what you do has significance beyond the apparent. You are a part of a larger whole, a larger dynamic that impacts upon you and upon which you impact. When you choose your thoughts, your words, and your actions, choose wisely and compassionately. You’re part of one Family, one Mind, one Heart, one Life, one Universe. Give all that you can to it, and you will receive more in return than you can imagine.
Now that larger dynamic is becoming visible. We are beginning to experience directly once required faith to believe. The Earth is Life. The galaxies are Life. The vastness of space is Life. All is Life. The Universe is a spiritual enterprise, not a material one.
Your soul is an immortal, purposeful force at the centre of your being. It is your essence. You are a powerful and creative, compassionate and loving spirit that has chosen to participate in the evolution of the human species. Your origin is not merely biological. Your experiences are not only physical. Your gifts are far more than they appear. Our species is becoming aware of the larger circumstance of which it is a part and to which it is responsible. This is our new creation story."
- Gary Zukav, Beyond the Seasons from Universal Human