I have finished filling in the ovals completely on my presidential election ballot and it will go into tomorrow’s first round of outbound mail. It must be received before 8 P.M. on November 3rd at the Clerk’s office in Redford Township, Michigan. Getting it off tomorrow gives me about six weeks and I hope enough time before the election. More than what I have done will not be possible. With the latest extension of Covid closure to the border, I am not likely to be able to cross, even though I am a U.S. citizen. The border guards have a lot of flexibility in whom they allow and for what reasons. I am not a wealthy Trump donor and I am not returning home so I don’t know what the outcome of an attempted hand-carry of my ballot would be. So, best case is having my ballot in the mail tomorrow. That work is then, done. I shall attempt a withdrawal from politics,Facebook and the news now. There exists nothing more I can gain from those things except worry and that worry is abysmal. The stress, the concern is destroying me and I can’t let that happen…we still have time left to live, books to write, songs to sing and I won’t give my peace of mind to Donald Trump or Mark Zuckerberg, neither are worth it.
Speaking of peace of mind, I have been attempting a Facebook/social media withdrawal for a couple of years. So far, I am not very successful. I will pull away for a bit from time to time but circumstances and the nature of Facebook conspire against my better judgement. Co-conspirators are the events of the last 6 or 7 years. Certain situations have emptied my life of close-human relationships. By itself, that is to be expected in later life. In my case, divorce, financial and work life changes, deaths of family members have ended up multiplying the isolation that is inherent to growing older. Now, Covid and extreme politics have gathered forces against peace and quiet, increasing my isolation further. I just don’t fit in with the strident crowd. I have my definite ideas, I am adamant, I am outspoken but I don’t fit with the name-callers and the haters of Facebook. At the same time, Facebook is sort of like having someone to talk to and share time with. It can’t be denied that a ‘like’ to your post gives you a shot of something sweet. The dark side of ‘like’ is vicious disapproval of something you may have said or something you wholly believe.
Over the last few years, I have been devalued in a thousand ways through ‘social media’. My latest go ’round with a post on Facebook was a dagger…it really hurt to discover or be forced to confront the fact that someone whose education and understanding of religion and politics I value, respect could so easily dismiss and be mean. Why not just state a case with an abundance of relevant fact? Why couch a view in anger, resentment, arrogance? Why do folks do that? Why the anger first? Why insult and degrade? The telephone has become a similar space. I had a misdial situation and the result shocked me. The person whose number I accidently dialed, then immediately disconnected…sought me out. I did not leave a message because I disconnected too soon. He called back after checking his missed numbers and threatened me with a slew of choice words. He was outraged that I didn’t have a name attached to my number…well, it isn’t attached to my number because I am not in his contact list and I don’t have a business name. Why is it so important for him to hunt down a wrong number? Why? Why go to the trouble?
These days, these sorts of angry folk and this sort of technology advancing me toward my golden years? Yeah, right. When I am in my right thinking space, I am able to endure and manage. I have a million friends who respect and care for me, I care for them and we share so much. I have some remaining good health and enough money to eat, stay warm and buy the occasional shiny object. Trying to stay in that space where I am relaxed and able to think, able to write, sing, play is very difficult when I am joined to the fray via Facebook and TV news. So… I am going to try shucking that, giving it up until after the election. There is nothing in that space for me and nothing that my simplish mind can handle. It is an insoluble problem and must be set aside. Today is a lovely fall day, lots of folks out and about. I have a bit of painting to do and piano to play. Maybe I will take some time to work on the new book, too. It’s all good when you step back a bit.
Robert On The Air 