I’ve been thinking of writing this post for a while, but am never quite sure where to start – there is just so much going on in the world, and in my mind and spirit. I guess the latest reality-shaker was the overturning of Roe v Wade here in the US – something that was always talked about by the conservative right, but was seen more as a silly dream they had than something that would, could, actually happen. But, in yet another shocking (sickening) twist, another item has been added to the list of things that once seemed completely impossible or improbable but have actually happened over the last few years. I was already struggling with maintaining before all that went down. Needless to say, it added quite a little salt to the already festering wound that living in this society of covid minimizers has become for me and a few others.
That’s a key component to my current malaise too – that it seems like only a few, very few, others see things as being as messed up as I do. I am blessed to have a group of folks, my “tweeps,” on Twitter who see it similarly – a group of people who are still trying to avoid getting covid, who see the constant efforts to minimize it and make those of us taking it seriously feel like we are crazy, for the gaslighting it is. I mean, the *real* scientists and researchers who actually know about this stuff and have no vested interest in pushing any narrative – who, ‘coincidentally’ seem to be the ones getting no real media coverage – are pretty much all saying the same thing: that letting covid spread unmitigated is a terrible idea, that it has long term health consequences, that we will generate new, possibly even deadlier mutations, and that the increasing numbers of people getting long covid will have a deleterious impact on society. But for some strange reason, no one wants to listen to them. They all want their daily dose of hopium – to continue to believe it’s “mild,” that he have to learn to “live with it,” or that “covid is over.”
Now, as someone who has had enough counseling and therapy that I should have an honorary degree, and also experienced tons of the self-help methodologies over the last 30 years, I *should* know better than to focus on all that stuff. I’m also in recovery, 19 years clean and sober, so I also know about taking things one day at a time, focusing on the things I can changed and accepting those I can’t, etc. I know all that stuff – I do. AND, I have the spiritual beliefs I do, especially regarding prophecies of several different traditions, and an idea of what time it really is. So there’s that aspect too. I “know” on psychological, mental, emotional, and even spiritual levels, that I really need to just focus on breathing, not taking on the problems of the world, just do what I can do each day to be of service, yadda yadda yadda. And that’s not to minimize any of that stuff, it really isn’t. I say it like that because I’ve been following a version of that mantra for over 30 years, because I have had to so I could just function in this world of materialism, consumption, and brutal capitalism. I’ve always been a pariah of sorts, but learned to keep that under wraps a bit, and “fake it til I make it” in this world. But the pandemic, and collective response to it, have made that virtually impossible, as the act of wearing a mask is a very visible indication that I – we – don’t think or believe like the ‘others.’
Because it’s not just me. Even though it feels like that a lot of the time, walking into a store, and being the *only* person wearing a mask. And I know there are some who insist that the 2 concerns are separate – in fact, I see and hear a lot of supposedly “spiritual” people engaging in anti-mask, anti-vaxx, or minimizing dialogs. But I just don’t understand how anyone who claims to truly care about other human beings could be so flippant and lazy about something like wearing a mask. Vaccination – ok, I can give a pass on that. I understand some are concerned about side effects, and they honestly have a right to harbor some mistrust. But what is the excuse for refusing to wear a mask? If you know there is even a small chance that you could spread covid to someone who is vulnerable by not masking, and that person could die, is there any question that the truly spiritual, compassionate thing to do is to wear a mask?
The fact is, just as it says in that one book – we are living in an age when the love of many has waxed cold. Even worse than the selfishness, willful ignorance, and laziness, is apathy – the fact that a lot of people just don’t give a shit anymore. And that is the great paradox of the whole “freedumb” movement that most people don’t take into account: the fact that discipline is a form of love, and when people don’t receive any at all, they feel unloved, they stop caring. Because if everyone can just do whatever they want, no one cares whether or not we take any preventative measures, the underlying message – even to the minimizers, though they might not be consciously aware of it – is our lives are worth nothing. They don’t care, so why should we?
As an example, I think back to when I was a teenager. My mom and dad had divorced, and my mom was doing her best to raise my brother and me on her own. She went through a period where she was drinking heavily, and stopped providing any real guidance or discipline. She was partying, and didn’t care if I was. And it was great! I got to drink, smoke weed, stay out as late as I wanted – basically do whatever I wanted. I was free – what more could a high school kid ask for? Thing is, at some point inside, I translated that as “she doesn’t care anymore,” and so I stopped caring. I got into all kinds of drugs, did things I never thought I would. Now I’m not saying that my drug use was her fault, or that if she had been more involved, or provided more discipline, that I wouldn’t have gone the way I did. And I am definitely not blaming her. She gave us a good life and worked her ass off to do it. What I am saying is that a lack of discipline and oversight can easily been seen as a lack of caring.
So while all the “freedumb fighters” have gotten what they have wanted for the most part – no masks mandated anywhere, not even on flights; people being forced to go back into offices, again with no masks; winding down of testing, tracking and quarantines – it has created, I believe, an even deeper sense of apathy in the collective unconscious. Because the governments of the west are basically communicating that they don’t care anymore. And as much as the libertarians and others want to be free from any governmental oversight, there is still some part of us that looks to someone, something, to give us some kind of guiderails or lane lines to keep ourselves and our society on track. But those rails are gone now. There are no lane lines. And people are careening all over the road of life, creating havoc for themselves and others by means of spreading a virus that is being shown more and more each day to have severe, lasting, possible permanent negative health effects – on the body, and the mind.
Circling back to the spirituality stuff, the prophetic aspect – I *knew* that a time like this would come. And I’m not talking just Bible stuff here. People always seem to assume that Christianity has a monopoly on prophecy – they most certainly do not. (See this post for more info: https://perpetualmystic.com/2021/06/17/return-of-the-gods-2/) Fact is, a LOT of traditions do. And it’s pretty hard not to see how many things – diseases, climate change, conflict, etc – are lining up in a way they never had. On top of that, I’ve had my own intuitions/visions/thoughts about this, and always believed I would get to see the end of this age. So one would think that I would be spiritually prepared for this. I sure thought I would. But I think I expected something more drastic, more cataclysmic, something undeniable to happen. The way this is occurring – a very slow, methodical, almost purposeful decline into poisonous apathy – is really taking a toll on me.
And I know it’s taking a toll on others too. Many don’t share my spiritual beliefs, but whether or not they do, it’s clear to see that what’s happening right now is REALLY messed up – very nefarious, one might even say evil, if one believes in that. The question is – how do those of us so impacted by this keep going? Well, the simple answer is, we just do – most don’t really have a choice. I know I don’t. I have bills to pay, loved ones who count on me, etc. I just have to keep going, one day – sometimes one hour – at a time. But damn if it isn’t getting harder and harder not to just completely dissociate from everything. I find myself struggling like never before to focus on work, and just wishing and praying I would win a huge lottery so I could buy an island or big piece of land somewhere where we could build a “zero covid” community, or something of the like: a place for people like us to go, to be away from all the minimizing, apathetic, freedumb loving zombies lol.
Of course, I have to accept the chance that this might not happen. And so now the focus, for me, is on, how can I continue to make some spiritual progress against the background of all this “stuff”…? How can I be of service to others going through this same thing? What can all of us do right now to help maintain our sanity, our humanity, and our health? Why won’t the Universe let one of us win the lottery? Lol. I have been doing a lot of praying and meditating lately, asking for help, and clinging on to every ounce of belief and hope I can muster up. Because I’m not giving up, and I am not giving in. I’ve struggled through too much to get to this point and just give up. I do feel like I need a bit of a spiritual boost, and right now, my tweeps are giving me just that – the knowledge that I’m not alone, and the hope that together, we can get through this.
So if you are reading this, and made it all the way to this part, I want to say THANK YOU! Thank you for being here, for sharing your experiences, for making sacrifices, for having a conscience, for not giving up! I don’t know how any of this is going to go really, but I do know that together we can do what I cannot. A very wise and compassionate man once said, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” I like to think that whenever 2 or more of us gather, even here, in the digital universe, something greater than us is here with us. And it is that something that I am looking, praying, and clinging to to help us all get through this. Something deep inside has always told me there is something much better, something wonderful, on the other side of all this. I often times have a hard time believing it myself. But as long as I’m not alone, I can continue to carry that hope. We can carry it, together – and maybe there really will be something wonderful waiting for us. And who knows – maybe the comradery is the “something.” Just as the journey is the destination, maybe the companionship is the salvation we all seek – or at least the key to finding it.
Many blessings to all who read this, and my eternal gratitude.
Perpetual Mystic 