Is It Just Me Or....

Hi!

Is it just me, or are you finding it a bit weird adjusting to this new way to walk through the world? 

Because of where I live, and the fact that more and more people here are getting vaccinated, we are now allowed to roam around with naked faces. 

It feels weird. Are there still people choosing to wear masks? Yup, and if it makes them more comfortable, they should. Will there still be businesses that require it? Very likely, and they should if they so choose, and... and where it is required, people shall just put it on and shut up, or go somewhere else. There isn't a service industry worker out there who has the mental, emotional, or physical capacity to put up with that abusive crap any more, not even a little bit. You want to complain about how the service industry is finding it so hard to fill positions right now? You want to pretend that the reason is cushy unemployment benefits? No. Just... no. The workers have NEVER in the history of the service industry EVER been paid enough to put up with your crap, the only way they sign up for round two of dealing with mask whiners is sheer desperation. They have had enough Karens to last at least three lifetimes. Don't be a Karen... or whatever the male counterpart would be... I don't know... Chad? Biff? 

Is it just me, or does the energy in public spaces feel tense? Like everybody is waiting to get yelled at for either wearing a mask or not wearing one. It's becoming abundantly clear that adjusting to this new normal is going to take a beat. I think these past months have been more of a mind-screw than we anticipated, or at least some of us anticipated. 

Is it just me, or has your sympathy/empathy waned drastically for the deliberately malinformed? And I do mean malinformed. A strict diet of misinformation devoid of the nutrition of actual peer-tested, fact-based data from well-respected, historically tried, and true sources. It's like living on nothing but fast food and wondering why you feel like crap. Deep down, you know you should throw a vegetable down your throat once in a while, but deliberately refuse to do so because some jackass in a lab coat with a fake diploma on the wall put out a youtube video telling you that vegetables were microchipped or will turn you into Magneto. Your deliberate idiocy is now putting those either too young or too sick to get vaccinated in real danger. Real and actual danger. Personally, I'm done sparing your feelings on this. 2+2 is 4. You can opine that it's 16, you can 'believe' it's 25, you can show me videos of some idiot declaring it's 12 because of space lasers all you want. It doesn't change the fact that it's 4. Will always be 4. 

Is it just me, or are you finding it downright entertaining that the guy who got his ass handed to him in the US election in November... like 9 months ago November, still thinks he's, I don't know.. relevant? Hosting rallies in the middle of Alabama pastures, putting out statements, and doing interviews like his words are good for anything but lining a hamster cage. He thinks by endorsing people he's doing something other than making sure they lose. Yet, the Magnetos of the world still throw money at him. Hey, it's their money, they can burn it if they really want to. 

Is it just me, or does it feel like climate change, if not home to roost, is circling to do so? Where I call home, it's really, and I do mean really rare to have so many days where the temperature reaches 30+ degrees. It's also extremely rare to go soooooo long without rain. I know there are measures in place to try and counter what's happening. It takes worldwide cooperation to conquer a global problem, the pandemic is a lesson in that. Borders are just lines on a map, put there to make colonizers feel superior. Nature couldn't care less about lines on a map. 

Is it just me, or do you catch yourself watching the Olympics wondering just how the hell they make their bodies do this stuff? As a middle-aged, menopausal, vertically challenged person with bad knees, who, granted has always been, physically, a bit stronger than the average bear, I find myself thinking back to when I was very likely at my physical best. In my 'prime', so to speak. The average age of these magnificent beings. Between the ages of 20 and 25. Was I winning medals? Nope. Was I travelling the world testing my measure against others? Nope. Was that an option, even with all of the training, and opportunity in the world? Nope, not with this biology. My Olympics, between the ages of 20 and 25? Cranking out 4 humans who have since become pretty incredible people. I'll take it. Not all accomplishments get medals, but they all take love, commitment, hard work and passion. 

I am incredibly grateful to be living in a part of the world where vaccines are plentiful and free. There are way too many places on this planet where that is simply not true. 

As I get older, it becomes more and more obvious that so much of our health, wealth, and happiness is completely determined by a life lottery. Where, when, and the socio-economic circumstances in which you are born, is so much more responsible for your lot in life than anything you do when you get here. 

It is up to us to do the best with what we are given. Not waste it. 

For me, that means prioritizing people over things. Time over money. Soul shine over shiny things. Embracing getting older, even with all the aches and pains that come with it, as too many are not given the privilege of doing so. But, that IS just me. 

Everyone needs to set their own priorities, set their own goals, dream their own dreams, find their own paths, and then create actions to lead them to where they want to be. 

Every path will be different, as will every destination. Each will have challenges, hills, valleys and curves. This is a given. Also a given, each will be rewarded with its own kind of gold.

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Until next time...

May we give each other a bit of space as we take the baby steps back into the open.

May we do all we can to keep each other safe, give our most vulnerable something to have hope in.

May we, as humanity, vow to never be a Karen a Biff, or a Chad.

May we accept that people of service are beyond every limit they ever had.

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