DECEMBER 2020: Welcome to the last month of a tumultuous year

GOOD BYE AND GOOD RIDDANCE 2020.

It has seen us witness many unprecedented and difficult circumstances. There have been social movements take hold on whole new levels such as the black lives matter movement, a wellspring of progress and a source of instigating conflict and divisiveness for the interested few disruptions.  We have seen marching in the streets and destruction in the streets. Misinformation on massive scales about this movement and many other pertinent social issues of the current times. There has been political chaos divisiveness and strife that despite a completed election still continues today both inside and outside the walls of Washington and local administrations. The political divides in this country are far beyond anything we have come to know in the past as far as the peoples combativeness and contention towards one another. If democracy is to survive it is essential we begin to lay down our metaphorical and literal arms and begin to see one another as fellow human beings not enemies to be demeaned and demonized. This only fuels to perpetuate the divide.  Regardless of the outcome of the election it is imperative for the survival of our united states remaining united to begin to bridge the massive gulfs and gaps between each-other and work towards the common good of all Americans all people.  To begin again to embrace the similarities for the common good rather than the differences and work collaboratively from a place of love and healing a divided and strained nation.  It has been as if we have been living a real life made for tv movie some of the extremist and conspiratorial ideologies being spread so easily and fueled so readily by the disenfranchised or angered masses. We have home grown hate movements I will not list them in this particular blog perhaps I will explore them in later blogs but this website is about fostering happiness and betterment in the world and calling out groups or persuasions as misguided decisive or damaging only serves to fan the flames of division and discontent. Let's just say living in a state where their was a legitimate orchestrated plan to kidnap the Governor and try her for tyranny and break away from the United States is just one minute but clear example of the extreme fringes fueling paranoia division and chaos in the country at this time. This is not the only extremest perspective. Even now as the country needs healing and is asking the people to come together once again for the common good of all and see the common good in all there is a steady red line forming around the president urging him to fight concession to the president elect casting their political agendas careers and popularity above the common good of beginning the process of cooperation and restoration healing and moving forward. They are not setting a good example for the people to follow. This is not a republican problem or a democratic problem it is a systemic problem. Times are precarious and stressful. We have seen the death of Ruth Bater Ginsberg and new appointments to the supreme court shifting the balance of conservative and progressive though the court is supposed to be unbiased it is nearly impossible to remove oneself from oneself entirely and be objective. These are lifetime appointments and many pertinent laws are up and coming cases such as the dismantling of the affordable care act in very short order and the implications of the changes in the supreme court leave the outcomes of this and other critical issues that create the rules of law the rules of engagement now seemingly uncertain as so many other things are at this time in history.  I have not even yet mentioned the fact that we have spent much of the duration of this past year experiencing a global pandemic the likes of which have not been seen since the Spanish flu of 1812.  The fear of many Americans losing health coverage due to the loss of the affordable care act law is very relevant in a global pandemic. It is no longer a decision of principal it has real and extreme impacts given the situation we find ourselves in with Covid-19. Covid-19 has come at a great cost to so many. Many people world wide have lost their lives and their loved ones to this illness, not only the old or infirm, the young and otherwise healthy too have passed away or been permanently disabled due to Covid infections. And unlike the common flu those that have survived especially severe bouts with the illness have experienced a myriad of extreme complications such as strokes, having to relearn how to walk, to name but a few and further it frequently leaves permanent medical illness in lung damage that is irreversible after a severe infection. Because the infection has such a breadth of severity from asymptomatic carriers, mild flue like illness, to intubation irreversible permanent medical conditions, and death people have a hard time taking it seriously as we often like to thing with most things "that will never happen to us". Misinformation, contradictory information,  pure nonfactual based opinion, and the aforementioned extremest and/or paranoid conspiratorial perspectives on the condition have further confused and conflicted people about the severity and even the reality of Covid-19: how to and even if they should protect themselves and others. We are all in the grips of a legitimate and serious highly contagious global pandemic that so very many people have died from and yet even in this we can not come to agreement even on its legitimacy let alone be compassionate and put the needs of the many above the immediate comforts and wants of ourselves.
The pandemic brought about much collaborative damage. Essential lock-downs and continual attempts to contain the pandemic which is now peaking in a second surge has forced and constriction of our economy a downturn in peoples employment and financial security. Often with their health insurance tied to their employment finding themselves losing or limited in both arenas of financial income and health coverage during a pandemic as an unforeseen consequence of the pandemic. It highlights a problem in our health coverage model tying access to coverage into employment when the worst case scenario happened people found themselves both out of work and out of insurance.  Extended unemployment helped for a time but the pandemic continues the help is running out and as things became contained more people were able to return to work. However now as we are facing a second surge we also face the possibility of further limitations of businesses and operations thus also on jobs and the economy. Those who have continued working the entire time have placed their health and safety at risk considered essential caused both gratitude for job security and incredible stress for high level exposure risk. This is solely a rundown of the pandemic itself and its implications on decisiveness, fueling extremism, fueling self interest over compassion for others and the great strain it is putting on individuals and families both in and out of the labor market at this time. STRESS. ANXIETY. DEPRESSION, ISOLATION, LONELINESS, ADJUSTMENT PAINS, are all other consequences many are facing due to the dramatic but necessary changes in the operation of our daily lives and or fears of catching Covid.
I haven't delved into all of what we have all endured together this last year. A key I want to get across to you all is that all of these things and all of the stress and uncertainty the division the hatred the fear these are things WE ALL are enduring TOGETHER. We may experience them differently but we as a nation each of us are ALL in this boat together. And it is imperative we begin the process of trying to heal come together repair and move forward as things are rather than continue to sue seeds of hate and decisiveness simply because our opinion or particular personal experience with these situations is different from one another. We are the UNITED states and the only way we are going to get successfully through these trials and tribulations is to once again work to be UNITED.
To fuel the economy we must contain the virus. Listen to science. Take precautions if not for yourself for those you may infect who are not as healthy as you are. Be considerate for your fellow man. The man with cancer the child with cancer your grandmother......
To fuel the economy and support employment retention in your own community I suggest as it is close to Christmas you buy local. Go get fast food, do restaurants that do operate even pick up only, shop local for holiday gifts to keep your local economy and small businesses in business and their employees employed.
Think of others at-least as much as you think of yourself. And that means all others even if you do not understand them.  Choose love over hate. Choose cooperation over conflict. Choose to be an agent of good and compassion and proactive progress in an otherwise seemingly chaotic precarious divided and resistant current climate.

And don't forget to take good care of yourself and your stress. You matter.
It's been a long tumultuous year and each of us is in it but our situation within the chaos is unique unto us.
Their is undoubtedly profound stress  from various sources if even only the constant argumentativeness of the different opinions that surround you. Even if your health and resources are in a good place personally the chaos and anger of the world around and the uncertainty of what is to come affects us weather we realize it or not.

Give yourself an early Christmas Gift (or whatever holiday your celebrate this season) and DE-STRESS yourself  take extra care of your mental emotional spiritual and physical welfare. Give yourself some TLC as frequently as you possibly can.

Be grateful even with all the uncertainty to come we have made it to the end of 2020. And try your best to be as kind to others as you are to yourself.... all others.
 It is time for the United States once again to be truly United. This will most certainly not happen over night but it will not happen at all if each of us does not attempt to try.

It is time to begin to heal.