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Breezy greetings, magnificent Reader,
Oof, I've seen some yukky exchanges online lately.
I try to keep up with the news, but with that effort comes not only the overflowing BS dispensed by our media steadily towing the line for their sugar daddies, but a whole lotta peripheral BS, too.
By peripheral BS, I mean this: seeing friends and people I follow on line go well beyond conversing and debating over issues, but jumping headlong into ugliness. Aside from being cringy to witness, it's entirely unproductive.
I'm seeing people dig their heels in deep as they assert their stance using memes and things they're forwarding, rather than sharing their own thoughts. And when someone disagrees, BOOM, the exchange gets mean. Yes, mean. Maybe you've seen this, too.
And look, it's easy to accuse the orange man's fans of this, since that's what non-fans of the orange man are used to looking for. (And what we look for, we find.)
But in the spirit of let's-be-honest, fans of the other major candidate in the upcoming election are fast becoming at least as arrogant as the orange-man side supposedly is. Oh, and also... mean.
I'm not excited.
Maybe you're having similar reservations.
Social missteps and course correcting
I'm not constantly on social media, but you may be watching me do the Instagram thing these days (because I want more people to hear what I have to say, and Instagram is a great way to reach people).
So while I'm getting myself oriented on IG, I'm seeing that the upcoming election is bringing out the yuck in us. I'm all for saying what we want to say—and respecting that everyone can do this, not just the people we agree with—but we can do without the hate-stuff. Yes, it's hateful. And like I've said before, hating on haters doesn't make the hate go away.
I also stroll through Facebook for specific things I participate in there, such as old house stuff; funny things; poetry, coaching, writing, and blogging things; and photography/artsy things. But I feel like I'm putting on blinders as I "walk through the lobby," because FB is basically a shithole right now.
It's distressing me.
The herd mentality is shocking, for one thing, but humans have always been this way, so I shouldn't be surprised. But good golly, the media machine sure makes following the herd all the easier.
Also, though, we talk a lot about modern culture producing an increasing number of ADHD brains, but dayum, it's not just kids we're talking about here. Adults are ripe for the picking with how stupid-easy it is to distract and bamboozle us.
System bucking at its loveliest
For those who've been around these shiny lands a while, you know I'm big on bucking bad systems. What that means in the context of current culture, including this dag-blasted election, is that it's a good idea to question everything.
So here are some wander-y thoughts for you to consider:
Track down original sources of what you hear and read—including memes and all those things people forward, as well as the news itself. Is this really what you think and what you really want to express and represent?
Follow the money that's propping up our candidates. They're all on the dole, especially the higher they go—they're all beholden to someone.
Follow the money behind studies that people cite to support their position. Who paid for those studies/results?
Side-eye the zillions of pharmaceutical ads coming from all directions—and side-eye the endless flow of pharmaceutical products themselves.
Be brave by listening to your spidey sense—if something feels off, it's off. Man-O-Manischewitz, I wish I'd listened to my instincts back when it didn't seem right to me that the Obamas planted an organic garden at the White House while simultaneosly Prez Obama appointed a Monsanto exec to the FDA, for example. Obviously, someone's not walking their talk in a case like that. I noticed it, said I didn't like it, and still stuck up for the man, blaming Republicans obstruction for pretty much everything Obama came up short on. My advice: don't do what I did.
It's time we stop thinking that ↑ this ↑ level of compromise is okay in order to get so-and-so into office, because then, we tell ourselves, we'll hold their feet to the fire. But we never do. We just rah, rah around them (like I and many others did with Obama), and make excuses for why it's okay "this time" because of something good we're supposed to get from it. But things just get more messed up, not less with this approach. I suppose we just don't want to admit when we've made a mistake. But it's okay to course-correct once we know better.
Instead of falling headlong into the excitement—or the chaos, depending on how you think things are going at any given moment, take a big ol' breath, and get some perspective for a moment. The influence we have in this world will never be due to the fact that we've rallied around the right person who's going to lead us all to a better world. Instead, it comes down to what who we are on the inside.
↑ This ↑ is what all the spiritual masters keep teaching. (They're remarkably consistent!) It's not that they're telling us to bury our heads in the sand and just get through life without caring about anything but our own enlightenment. Instead, they're teaching us to get a grip on what's really important in this life—and the human need to control each other, the planet, and everything else ain't it.
Life is supposed to be beautiful, and we're here to shine. Life is not supposed to be a competition to the death, or a suppression of the human spirit, yet we keep lesser-of-two-evils-voting ourselves into more of what's not working so well.
And while I advocate for an "outer peace through inner peace" attitude and approach, I'm not saying to be a pushover. Yes, humans have always been gullible and quick to jump on a bandwagon—this hasn't changed, and I'm not even sure it was worse in the old days when we were less educated and informed than now. Like I said, nowadays the media machine sees to it that we hear what's going on, except that the media machine is really, really good at telling us what the uber-powerful want us to hear. And then we fall for it. Because we're gullible. We love a tidy solution. We love something and someone to blame. We all do this, too—the highly educated and ordinary alike. You and I, dear and shiny Reader, are not too smart to be gullible. We really aren't. We're products of our culture—thoughts and beliefs and all. So be alert and don't be a pushover—question every. damn. thing. And do it continually.
We're each lumbering along together as best we can, gullible and all, on this beautiful island home we share. And our consciousness is far smarter than our brain (while we give our big brains too much credit), yet our consciousness isn't fully awakened just yet. Like I said, we're lumbering along.
But we're on our way. And being on our way to an awakened consciousness is a much better road to take than the competitive, insecure, mean road. Remember your humanity right now—stay compassionate.
And let me assure you, this isn't a draggy, academic, gloomy journey I've got for you—it's joyous and even fun, full of pictures and colors. (And it includes a great 98-minute playlist available in both Spotify and Apple Music.)
So click here to begin bringing your mental property back home where it belongs. No more handing over custody to the media machine.
Own your brain space!
Thanks very much for being on the other side of the screen today—
As always, I appreciate you.
Stay very shiny, my friend,
Coco
P.S. If you're interested in talking one-on-one with me about navigating the life in these times, click here to see my coaching schedule. I'd love to give you my full attention and work together.
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