PANDEMIC

 

PANDEMIC

 

Perhaps it was to be expected, as we began to unleash the raw elements of the universe with no real idea of what to expect. Or could it be that some of us did know but didn't really care? 

 After all we are living in a virtual world these days where anything is possible with little left to the imagination. Reality is merely a click away.

So here we are after three years of mismanagement leading to a catastrophic hole being punctured in our society, our beliefs thrown aside, and our sacred institutions rippled apart and cast asunder.

I fear that we have opened Pandora's Box big time and it will take decades to resolve our deliberate mistakes. The dragons of hatred are burning with a fury that has not been seen since the holocaust. Racism and Bigotry have been unleashed , and even encouraged.

Global warming, economic inequality,  social injustice, and a Pandemic the likes of which we have not seen in a millennium, all contributing to the apocalyptic times that we must navigate.

 It has been said that there is no future without a past, but the past is sometimes a culmination of missteps that, whether deliberate or accidental, must be realized and dealt with in order to move on in the right direction.

Fortunately for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, hopefully to keep the balance of the universe intact. If not than we are lost.

Could it be that the simple answer to our dilemma is love? In the words of the Buddha - "happiness can be achieved only by practicing love. Without love, there is no happiness, and true happiness comes from true love. The true unconditional love overwhelms your heart and it has power to heal while bringing deep meaning into our lives".

All that we are is the result of what we have thought. It is founded on our thoughts. It is made up of our thoughts. If one speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows one, as the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the wagon.

And on that thought I would like to share a quote from Kahil Gilbram -
"You may forget with whom you laughed, but you will never forget with whom you wept."

As an Aquarian born under an air sign, I have always been intrigued by the "Ages" of the Zodiac, their special powers and their place in the grand scheme of the Universe itself.

The Yin and Yang of the millions of diverse yet amazingly combatable particles and energy's that make up our solar system, and the other millions as well, are truly amazing.

When ever there is a transition, whether it be mental, physical, or spiritual there is an accompanying chaos that must occur in order to facilitate that change. Hence we see it happening in real time now as we survey the aftermath of our radical times.

2016 - The year it all started to fall apart.

A new era of greed and corruption began to gain momentum as the newly elected administration began to dismantle rules and regulations that, up until then were held sacred. Constraints were lifted so that the wealthy could get richer more quickly, at the expense of the poor and middle classes.

It was actually during the Regan administration that things began to change for the worse. The idea of trickle down economics never did make much sense to me as "water usually dries up before it gets all the way down". Enough said.

After several decades of maneuvering ways to avoid corporate tax breaks, downsizings, outsourcing and de-contenting our economy began to show signs of ware and tear. In addition we had been through several "recession/depressions". Our infrastructure had been neglected for two decades, and moral compasses had become corrupted. Enter disillusionment, discontent and despair.

What happens when a society looses its direction and leadership becomes corrupted? It becomes frightened and confused.  In the midst of a deadly virus and incompetent leadership chaos prevails. Old hatreds reemerge - racism, bigotry raise they ugly heads.

Thankfully we got a reprieve for the moment and now, if we get ourselves together, there looks to be a long and well deserved era of rebirth coming to us. As the song goes "when the moon is in the seventh house, and Jupiter aligns with Mars. Then peace will role the planet and love will steer the stars..."

 

It was early in 2019 that I noticed a change in my vision. That January my ENT had ordered a CAT Scan which reveled something going on with my pituitary gland. He subsequently recommended an MRI which showed signs of a small tumor glowing close to where the optical nerves converge.

After meeting with a Neurosurgeon I was told that it was in fact a very small and benign tumor, and that I should not have to worry about for several years as they tend to grow extremely slow. In about a month my vision had continued to worsen and I began to worry.

I made an appointment with two different Ophthalmologists both told me that I was experiencing macular degeneration.

It was suggested that I take some medications and hope for the best, but always looking for homeopathic alternatives I started a series of acupuncture treatments.

Nothing seemed to be working and my vision was continuing to get worse.

My husband and I had rented a house in Palm Springs for the season and felt that it would be good to get away into the sunshine. Palm Springs has always been a touch stone for me and maybe this would help.

It seemed that the whole world was going into crisis and my dilemma only made me feel more endangered, much like a wounded animal who would be expelled from the herd. Funny how drama begets drama, and chaos can cause contemp. 

The second Ophthalmologist had been a little more caring and concerned so I made an appointment to talk with him again once we returned from Palm Springs. He asked me to get some tests while I was out there and referred me to a second Neurologist. Finally it was determined that it was in fact the tumor that needed to be dealt with, and sooner than later.

We were now ending our stay in the desert and, as luck would have it, something identified as COVID-19 had begun to rage in New York, and on the 
West Coast.

Sunday Morning

It is 6:30am on a Sunday morning in April. The sun has touched the tops of our Austrian Pine Trees and the world is quiet around me like a leafy, lazy comforter gently coaxing me to stay in bed and ponder the day.

I stretch out my arms and legs and find only cool empty space and the world is mine for the moment. Little snippets of life such as these are wonderful in their purity and for the moment I feel as though I am floating above the earth and time in a cocoon of cotton candy.

In another moment a Robin appears and breaks the silence with his call. A soft breeze blows and the leaves begin to rustle and my body tells me it is time to re- enter the real world and begin another day.

At once several more birds appear, a man walks by below with his dog and my tranquility has been shattered. The city is encroaching again and my fortress of solitude has been breached.

But it is Sunday morning after all - a day of rest and reflection. I think that I might just roll over and slip under the covers for while longer. The day will wait for me I'm sure ...

• Once, when I was a younger man, I asked my boss what it was that he had done before he became CEO of his company. He replied that “in his other life” he had been a salesman and had traveled the country meeting with accounts and enjoying the single life on the road. “Other Life” I thought? How many lives can one person have, and how many does one need?

• Reflecting back on that moment today, I would have to answer that we all have as many lives as we need to. Some are passive, others more aggressive, and still others have a life of their own.

• In my preteens I was my parent’s child being molded by their example and wishing for a time when I could be grown up. 

• In my teens and twenties, I was a head strong young man striving to find my place in the world and to break free of the childhood ties that kept me prisoner.

• Arriving at my thirties, I was the adult that I had so desired to be, but there was still that lack of personal freedom that I so desired.

• Enter forty, and I found myself ready to be my own man. Starting my own business and taking a life partner, I very much felt the successful ingénue that I had strived to be.

• It wasn’t however until the age of sixty that I realized my full potential. Having survived four previous incarnations and the death of a long time life partner I felt myself broken and exhausted. But instead of lying down for the count I picked myself up and with the help of my husband Chadwick, I began to build a new and even more perfect life in which to flourish.

• Will there be a sixth incarnation? Perhaps if need be. But I would rather like to think that this time is the last time. And from this point forward the best is yet to come … It must be!

The Stand

TAKE A STAND

At times like these at the end of the day it is you and I that are at play

As the winds of March blow the pestilence forth, I feel the need to address the source.

If all don’t heed the urgent call, I feel that many more will fall

In times like these there is a voice to stand in place with  just one choice
To face the foe with gale force

To think that we are alone out here will only serve to stoke our fears

Remember we are all one trust and to survive we all must work together in unity lest we succumb to the insanity

Plug In and Pray

I have never been a religious person, in fact you might say that I am an atheist of sort.

Spirituality on the other hand, when defined as the search for "the sacred," where "the sacred" is broadly defined as that which is set apart from the ordinary and worthy of veneration, is pretty much where I am at.

I worship the gods of nature, science and technology, where science and technology are used to enhance the life and the environment. Much like a cerebral tool kit, they should be employed to make our lives easier, to help us understand universal mysteries and riddles. However, it seems, especially recently, that instead they have turned on us and are becoming increasingly more disruptive and even insidious.

After leaving my home of some eighteen years and packing up all it's technology, which had severed me well for these past decades, I found that upon trying to insert it into my

new space it had become obsolete almost over night!

What happened in those few days of my move from one space to another is still a mystery to me. Could it have been that much like an time traveler from an earlier age, I had become cocooned in a situation that had served me well but who's expiration date had passed me by?

When I think of how many times in a day I find myself confronted by similar situations it makes me angry! How can we move forward if we are always reinventing? And what is the purpose of all this constant change and "upgrading"?

The answer I think is - we cannot!

What it really amounts too, I feel, is greed and money ... If we remain constant in our technology then corporate profits remain status quo. But if we constantly have to reboot than the share holder investments grow.

This is all fine for the privileged few at the top of the food chain but not so good for the rest of us trying to survive or merely hold our ground. Whatever happened to the caring and gentle human spirit? Have we become a world of greedy over achievers?

When money and power become omni important, and everyday sensibility is no longer practiced, I fear that we dangerously close to the eve of destruction.

Wait a minute, there is someone at my door, my new techno service provider has arrived and is performing his magical "tech fix". My Internet is working again, and it looks like all systems are go! Once again I have the power at my finger tips and I feel omnipotent. Maybe I was wrong - my plug and play life is back on track and all is good again. At least for the next nano moment or so ...
 

A Polar Vortex

Today I watched our wildlife gather strong upon our deck. All puffed up with fur and feathers they braved the Arctic nest. The cardinals came with calm and stealth the sparrows came with worry, and as they danced around and looked for morsels, they seemed very much to scurry. But then to the bushes they flew to warm themselves in a hurry.

Now came our squirrels in their furs and fine dress, to beg for some walnuts we keep the self. I wondered how long they could last in this tundra, concerned that the polar vortex might be their conundrum.

But try as I might to bring aid to the day, their courage surpassed my greatest if I may.

What a marvel mother nature has bestowed on her children for a reason, engineering their bodies to work with the season. Without much effort it seemed, you might say, it is knowledge of self that must save the day.

What is it as humans has made us forget all the treasured experience we have gained but regret? Perhaps if we take time to sit and just listen, our strengths might resurface and make our hearts glisten.

Could it be that we are more than just pawns in the game? When will we learn that to try is it's name ...

A year ago last August my partner Chadwick and were lucky enough to visit the palace of Versailles in the countryside outside of Paris. During my first visit to Versailles I stood in total amazement. The wealth and power that came together to build this mind blowing edifice is legendary. A Sun King, a proud but suppressed people, and a decadent upper class living off the efforts and bounty of their subjects.

That first visit was later in October when the multitudes of tourists had retreated to their mundane lives of contemporary work ethic and the palace shone bright and almost pristine in the afternoon light, in the hall of mirrors. We were almost alone in this monument to decadence but you could feel the electricity of another era, an era of unparalleled elegance and cruelty.

My second visit to Versailles was crowded and buzzing with a modern middle class pushing and shoving to see the sites. The mood was much different this time. There was an almost anxious feeling that the crowds had come again to raid and pillage the palace. This time the hall of mirrors reflected not the greedy aristocracy parading in their quaffed and coutured finery, but instead by a much different variety of aristocracy, this time curious and less cultured.

What happens when ultimate art and unparalleled wealth comes together to creat such an icon of the times? Perhaps this could be compared to our society today.