The sin of empathy…

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Does anyone else feel like we all fell asleep and woke up to a world we can’t recognize or make sense of? Like… up is down, in is out, nothing is real, and nothing matters? Two weeks in, we’re being told to ignore what we see and hear, and important safeguards are quickly evaporating into thin air. Incredibly even for them, the newbies started by relegating empathy for other people to the Sin Bin, thus signaling a deep-seated upside-down-ness that we’ll be expected to accept in the name of loyalty, so it’s anybody’s guess as to where it goes from here.

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The label can’t hurt me. I mos def HAVE been stupid about things I was assured were realer than the nose on my face. And according to my definition of a socialist, I’m one of those as well, as opposed to being a fascist, whose ranks my dad and friends stood against in our last world war.

Since the world will be whack for some time to come, what kind of options do we have for coming out of this emotionally intact, if not bodily? I like this for starters:

It’s a full-time job.

Pretty sure there’s massive change ahead, so a plan is in order; therefore, I plan to survive if possible, and help other humans and creatures do the same.

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It’s not complicated…

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On light and hope…

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Boys and girls, I promised you a Pollyanna post before tomorrow, so stand by for a test revealing whether or not I can produce one. In truth, it’s simple: think positive thoughts and write them down. Got it.

I’m positive that after tomorrow life will change, so be ready for anything, good or bad. Don’t let the good pass you by while you’re focused on the scary stuff.

I’m positive, and have proven it to be true, that we don’t have to immerse ourselves in “what’s happening” every living second of our lives, and equally positive that it’s damaging to do so. I hopped off the TV news merry-go-round months ago because I can be far more selective and equally freaked out by reading the daily feed instead of watching it. In addition, I’m positive my daily perusal is overkill.

In the cockamamie world we woke up to, I’m positive that the following is factual:

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I’m positive that the world can someday get itself right-side up again so imma hide and watch. Since I’m no help, at the very least I can choose not be a hindrance.

Whew! What a relief.

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I’m not voluntarily going anywhere and I hope you won’t either.

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Tick, tock…

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Yesterday we had a week’s grace before the apocalypse hits, this morning we’re down to six days. Then five, then four… and we’ll finally arrive at Day One, being billed as the greatest day in human history, hosted by CF47, gonna be lit! The entire world waits and watches.

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Christmas already feels like it came and went long months ago without making a ripple in the fabric of society. As a nation, we achieved the full measure of hypocrisy during this past season, simply by pretending to celebrate something we don’t actually believe in, as evidenced by our actions.

CF47 has said the deportations will begin on Day One.

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And because we’re not going to bow down to not only a dictator, but his racist apartheid insane sidekick, who seems to have appointed himself King of the Known World.

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So on we go, hoping this isn’t the end of life as we’ve known it, doing what we can to preserve “truth, justice, and the American way” and against all odds, I must add.

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We have… maybe… one more week of relative peace before the storm. Gird your loins and other parts, kids.

I’m old enough to remember when people cared about each other and life wasn’t entirely transactional. We may or may not ever see that vibe again, but living felt a little more fair, considerably sweeter, and we had a sixth sense as to whom we could trust. Someday, CF47 and all who bow to him will be gone, but we’ll never forget what he’s done to destroy our lives, and what people we respected did to facilitate that debacle. Trust, once squandered, is a total bitch to recover because of all it entails. People thought one thing, were told one thing, wanted one thing, and entirely different things happened. We’re being told to live with the untenable, the implausible, the preposterous and unthinkable, and it’s a psychic stretch we’ve likely not had to pull off until now.

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Whatever’s coming… the things we hold no sway over… it’s on us to find a way to survive because of course. Simply by existing, we cheat the oligarchs out of pennies and crumbs we have no right to subsist on. My question becomes: Are they planning to implement indentured servitude in order for their laundry to be done, their mansions cleaned, and prime food delivered hot and plentiful to their mouths? And if not, will it be robots doing those things?

It matters not how it all happens, we’ll eventually bow the knee when we get hungry enough. The Rule Book, Project 2025, has been written and published, so they’ll say we knew what was expected of us and therefore deserve whatever punishment is meted out. I still want to live to at least 95, but not in THAT world.

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There are so many people I miss, but I don’t entertain thoughts of that changing because it feels like we’re past that point. Love and friendship require trust and respect. And sadly, that’s the end of the story.

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Come back tomorrow for a Pollyanna happy-post. Had to purge my psyche so I can keep being real with you and me.

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Knock knock, reality calling…

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When I woke up this morning I thought it was Monday but by the time I put my feet on the floor I’d decided it must be Saturday. Or possibly Friday or Sunday. Happy New Year to me! Kim brings me an Einstein Brothers bagel every Monday so I was hoping for that one, but other days are okay too. Somehow in all of that brain wave activity, without my saying a word about it, Kim got the message to bring me a bagel before he went to PickleBall, so all is well beyond expectation! In case somebody else needs a bit of help this morning: today is Friday, then come Saturday, Sunday, and Monday (hopefully graced with another bagel). Christmas was in December, which is now over, and New Year’s celebrations took us to yet another year we aren’t ready for, yay!!

Fat lotta good THAT’ll do me…

So here we go, and we’ll hope things make themselves clear sooner rather than later. Or it’s very possible we’ll wish we didn’t have to know at all.

I made no resolutions, which is good because I would already have broken at least three. I do have a heartfelt hope for MORE TIME this year with people I love. That’s real living, end of story.

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I walked into 2025 with my eyes wide open as a functioning adult, full of… yes hope, because I’m still Pollyanna, no apologies. However, while I’m eternally optimistic, I’ve also become quite realistic, so I know the following bears repeating…

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We’re three days into a year steeped in mystery… what will it be like? Since it might be a while before we know, we have time to make a conscious choice:

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Meanwhile, soak up the quiet of this interim time, and appreciate the lack of unnecessary drama.

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