@lynn I don't find your words dark at all. Instead, it's so honest and courageous, and that makes it really bright. From my perspective, it's really important to acknowledge reality before we can improve it, right? I really think, from my perspective, you're acting great, Mrs. Lynn Braveheart!
@Lynn. . . . yes very dark, but certainly on the mark. On the bright side . . . it is a blessing that T is 79 years old and not 49 or 59. However, the longer that this plays out, the deeper into the abyss we go. I am hopeful that it won't be long.
I don't blame those in charge, I blame those who put them in charge. I think other countries are looking at Americans in that light . . . as if they are saying "what is wrong with you people?"
I have been thinking a lot about you lately. You are a frontline light worker and such a blessing.
You've made an excellent point. I agree that yes it is happening and yes acknowledging the truth is healthier and better (for me) than fearing what might happen. The truth does strengthen me.
One way I get through these horrific times is through acts of intention.
Intention to create positive experiences with my family members (like @Tedp) and is very helpful. Intention to find the light while darkness hovers, even if only thin strands of light. Strands of light are beautiful in many different ways. Intention to find things to be grateful for every single day. Gratitude is healing. Intention to notice when others are doing something filled with compassion and to acknowledge their actions. Intention to speak truth and rise up to my highest self. And intention to act through love.
Love breaks through walls, builds bridges, lessons burdens, heals wounds, allows for understanding, and is the foundation of our humanity. Love transmutes fear. Love IS light. Love brings hope. Love connects us to The Creator, to God, to a Higher Realm. Love is everything.
I think the best response I can have to these dark fearful times is to respond to them with love.
@lynn Dear Lynn, I have summarized for you and to strengthen your position, an interview in German from Giuliano da Empoli, a Swiss-Italian author, who has just published another famous book here in Europe. I am sure you will enjoy and will agree with his wise words.
Italian-Swiss writer Giuliano da Empoli analyzes what we are currently experiencing as the fusion of something very old with something radically new. The old is the political predator, the autocrat. The radically new is the tech magnate. As predators, both want to overthrow the current democratic rulers. The political predators in the world are currently paralyzing us with shock, but both types of predators threaten our democratic world as we know it and what we value about it.
The most difficult and important question to face this situation is: How do we prepare for the future? If we remain in shock, the predators have already won and are going to eat us. So it is important to recognize that the real question is: How do we preserve not only ourvhope, but also our joie de vivre? How do we nurture both? Yes, as a politically conscious person, I want to nurture genuine joie de vivre, especially now. Constantly. Because in this world, what happens is not inevitable. That is why we must cultivate joie de vivre. As long as people have joie de vivre, they can face reality and take political action instead of falling into a state of shock.
So, Giuliano da Empoli highlights the fact that acknowledging harsh reality does not mean losing hope and joy in life. In fact, these three forces of our will, mind and soul support each other and, together, support us every day in dealing with the current difficult situation in the right way.
Our beloved, Dame Jane Goodall, gave a final interview in March 2025 that was to be released posthumously.
She gave it to Netflix 'Famous Last Words'
Y'all???? This is a MUST SEE!!!! HEAR!!!!
Netflix's lowest streaming tier is $7.99... no contracts and cancel anytime.
Just do it!!!! It is worth every penny!!!! I wept, laughed and became filled with HOPE 🙏🏻🪽💚🪽🙏🏻
@lovendures Thank you for such a beautiful post. I am going to try to do the same.
Italian-Swiss writer Giuliano da Empoli
it is important to recognize that the real question is: How do we preserve not only our hope, but also our joie de vivre? How do we nurture both? Yes, as a politically conscious person, I want to nurture genuine joie de vivre, especially now. Constantly. Because in this world, what happens is not inevitable. That is why we must cultivate joie de vivre. As long as people have joie de vivre, they can face reality and take political action instead of falling into a state of shock.
Word!
Giuli speaks truly!
@journeywithme2 I literally just watched this last night. It was amazing!!! I also highly recommend it. I really feel that she was an incredible pillar of light in her work and her presence. And that carries forward after her passing in all who were inspired by her. Like an explosion of light and all the sparks fall to us who carry that forward.
The direction our civilization is headed is brilliantly discussed in this interview. I'd love to know what you think.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/14/opinion/paul-kingsnorth-humanity-technology.html
It's about where AI is taking us from the viewpoint of an philosopher, author, and scholar who decided 12 years ago to move his family to rural Galway, Ireland where they grow their own food and have very limited screen time. Their children are homeschooled without phones. He's tried various religious traditions and now embraces Orthodox Christianity, a relationship to the land, and to spirit. He addresses Peter Theil and Elon Musk's philosophy which he calls Anti-Christ and Silicon Valley's singularity, also in his view, anti-Christ. But mostly he discusses how we are fast become slaves to machines that could end our humanness.
I did not find it depressing but enlightening.
It posits a choice for each of us. And it awakens us too. What do you choose between the convenience and wealth of these machines and the danger of a Faustian bargain that will put us in hell?
@tgraf66 @lovendures @bluebelle @deetoo @seaholly @sealion @journeywithme2 @vesta @cc21 @Caroline @lynne @raincloud @dannyboy @dana @tesseract @kateinpdx @lowtide
What a mind-expanding conversation! This stays with me, from Kingsnorth's remarks:
"And I was thinking only yesterday, actually, about this: that maybe a society which can balance its outer exploration with its inner exploration could be a more healthy one."
The US is not that mature, yet.
Each of us has to decide how much of "the machine" we can live with in our lives, and to what extent we set boundaries and "opt out".
Here it is almost Thanksgiving. I was outside trying to read a book with a cat, in the way, setting on my lap, when a ladybug landed on my book. It thrilled me, because ladybugs are good luck.
I have been saying to acquaintances for some time that we have become slaves to 'the machine', that my work must fit the machine's format with the machine's required words etc. it seems we're required more and more to comply, be it AI "chat bots" that claim ability to provide solutions when our Internet connection is slow (they're rarely helpful), or tech 'problem solvers' in India who have no clue. Conform & Comply or be assimilated. Flashbacks to the Borg and it's Cube. The minds of the writers on those shows let us peek into the future which is happening all around us now.
"Technology standing in the way of progress" is often my observation.
I have been saying to acquaintances for some time that we have become slaves to 'the machine', that my work must fit the machine's format with the machine's required words etc. it seems we're required more and more to comply..."Technology standing in the way of progress" is often my observation.
Yes! We are being brainwashed by tech & corporations. Remeber Apple's ads telilng us to take photos of everything with our phones? They got people to take their phones everywhere, and now I pay them to store the photos! The Internet steals our attention, brainwashing us into consumerism that in turn trains us to want more, to buy more, and in the end to shape our lives around our devices. which also harms the environment.
Still, there are positive benefits: Technology has opened doors—new ideas, new teachers, new communities we’d never have found alone. If it weren't for my ability to connect to you all via this website, I'd be in a smaller-thinking world of people whose dominant religion teaches that psychic ability is the work of the devil. We've been able to expand our minds this way, and reach people around the world who are awake to the vast horizons of consciousness we are exploring.
Take a look at this Vox interview with a sociologist who has studied the effects of technology on humanness for several decades: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/3/27/17085282/technology-facebook-social-media-sherry-turkle
Politics has been twisted by the same forces. Social media made division easy, disinformation cheap, and outrage profitable.
Years ago I imagined people retreating into rural spaces, off the grid, searching for privacy and freedom—from the government, but also from the constant pull of the internet. A more human life. A quieter one.
But we can’t throw it all away. Technology has helped us, too. The real work now is learning how to manage it.
@jeanne-mayell The first step to managing it is to recognize the great benefit technology offers us for knowledge, exploration, and learning, while separating tech from platforms. There is nothing, in my mind, as dangerous to society as social media. I have a long and sordid history with it myself. And yes, I know. It's wonderful to see pictures of people's families and cats, and all the nice things that most people claim they keep their social media for. As a guy who abandoned all of his twice (once in 2020 until mid-2024 when I donated my liver to a family member and again in October,) I can tell you quite definitively that if you want the pictures of family and cats to continue, all you have to do is send some text messages from time to time reminding your friends that you want to see pictures of family and cats. Eventually it becomes second nature to them to send you some photos now and then and you can exist without the algorithm. (I'm 47. I lived 35 non continuous years of my life successfully without social media. I promise you it's doable!)
Social Media could be a powerful tool for connection, and it did start out that way, but like everything, capitalism killed that promise dead. The algorithms are built purposely to keep you scrolling, keep you engaged, and in many cases, keep you enraged. I don't begrudge anyone who enjoys it their time with it, but for me, my mental health is always at its lowest when I'm on one of those sites - Charlie Kirk and the ultimatums being issued willy nilly about "If you don't agree with every word in this post feel free to unfriend me right now..." - I rarely read the posts, I just followed the instructions. I don't agree with every word that comes out of my best friends mouths, so random co-worker from college movie theater job can exit stage left. The second I was off again, my mental health started a sharp upward trend.
A great read that I picked up before it became cool was "The Anxious Generation" - I highly recommend it though it's a bit dense. If you come out of that still championing what social media is doing to us, our kids, and our society, you should probably try reading it again.
Have to laugh..my daughter and I were on the London Eye today watching as several people leaned inward against the glass (away from the view) looking at their phones; the Eye rotation is a mere 30 minutes??!!