A little perspective, like a little humor, goes a long way. - Allen Klein

Good Morning Digital Neighbors! It is not easy to be hopeful every day. Some days the cultural trick or treating only yields black pills. There have always been black pills in the news, too many bad things happen and it is easy to predict more. The good, however your perceive it, takes effort to achieve and maintain. The bad, only takes neglect and inattention, and there is plenty of that to go around in human nature to make the vast majority of us exceptionally vulnerable.

It is easier to predict doom and gloom since a lack of effort, attention and direction almost always leads to a worse future. Closing your eyes to the reality of black pills does not change their existence and impact. Turning up the air conditioner on your burning home or perfuming your outhouse does not change the reality of the building, only a momentary perception. When that falsified perception returns to normal the unperfumed outhouse is inconvenient, the burning house in ruinous and deadly.

Obsessing about black pills often narrows your awareness too much and leads to the Great Pumpkining of your beliefs. You are certain, your friends are waiting for the confirmation, and tomorrow arrives with no real change in the level of confirmation. You are more convinced, they are more skeptical and the potential dismissal of your obsession and the straining of your relationship may be headed down the road of permanent dismissal or division.

It doesn't help when vocations like journalism abandoned the verification of stories and data and rather chose to focus on the polish they apply to any given story. The lies are old and worn, but continued application of polish perpetuates the lie and its lifespan. The ability to bury the data and obscure the facts make the pursuit of truth all the more difficult. Journalism had its high mark back in the 70's in the golden days of Watergate and they have been in self-serving since then. (Not all, but most.) It was the precipice that preceded their fall through inflated pride and the desire for fame and greed. That the vast majority of journalist abandoned the original charter to report what they uncovered and instead what to tell you how to think, feel and uncritically accept is a profound loss for society. One of the former gatekeepers to those in power is now just another seat at the table deciding how to maintain their status.

Another black pill is the compromising of science. I am not sure when it happened but 2020 pulled back the curtain that it had already taken place. Have scientific results been as compromised as long as journalism? Journalists have had 50 years of narcissistic massaging, are scientists in the same boat? Are scientists (again not all, but the ones the gatekeepers propose to us) just another seat at the table consuming the future? I don't mind disagreement about the meaning of the data, I think that is what good science does, I have a problem when they look at the same data and call it two different things. I guess that leaves mathematics as the last bastion for unquestioned data and agreeable facts.

Tiresome and depressing. Just checkout. Most do. The Exploiters of indifference appreciate when you and I do just that. NOPE! As Nancy Reagan would say in her ill-fated drug program - just say NO. But saying no is just the beginning, what can one do to honestly vaccinate themselves against such assaults to common sense and humanity?

Unplug - be it prayer, meditation or friending silence, mute the exterior chatter at some point during the day, the longer the better, just not completely. This is not to be confused with being enslaved to a glowing screen, but the opposite. Detox by de-teching. Non completely, but for discernible and observable periods of time.

Choose wisely - Mindful consumption applies to multiple areas in life. What we eat, what we think, what we choose for our leisure makes all the difference in what our body, mind or habits will become.

Rediscover beauty - Nature, the arts, literature. Only nature is the uncompromised source of beauty, the arts and literature can be compromised by the same problems mentioned above and the madness of the artist or author can drag you away from beauty and instead deepen the darkness. Sense their vibe and choose wisely.

Cultivate good friends - At least one good friend who is that wonderful balance of similarity and dissimilarity to keep you engaged and growing. A good friend can help us from obsession but also encourage us when we are passionate. It is one of the most difficult challenges of a friendship when we want to encourage one another to see as clearly as possible and at the same time we don't want to become blinded by a singular obsession. Good friends call us on our bullshit, be it our actions or obsessions but do so in a way as to help us reconsider what we are doing, not to humiliate, intimidate or shame us.

Exercise - find your thing and DO IT. Maybe go for a walk in nature and get a two for one in handling the black pilling of our lives. Find a friend to exercise with and help each other to be accountable. I hate exercising, but I try to walk everyday. I know I need more. I need more cardio and better eating habits, period. Listen to a an audio book or music that frees your spirit while you exercise, again double up on the resistance to the black pills.

I am sure you good souls on Locals have your own methods to resist the darkness while not ignoring it. Have a great Thursday my friends & neighbors.

November Barn Photograph by Rhonda Taylor