@lovendures I agree with @jeannemayell that we must focus on the victories and with you that we must always Hope. The road to change is never paved with lollipops and rainbows. It's paved with heartache, pain, suffering, loss and grit. Hope, love, caring and compassion for others are why some extend themselves for the cause. Came across this tweet/story from the Dem candidate for Georgia Secretary of State. It's about the Fall of Saigon and how President Carter (D) and Iowa Gov Robert Ray (R) impacted her family.
Hope.
https://twitter.com/BeeForGeorgia/status/1426997094410330112?s=20
@theungamer @lovendures Thank you for your hopeful posts. I have been watching the HBO Obama series which is beyond wonderful. I have felt that history will find him to the one of the two greatest presidents (along with Lincoln).
But I also reflected as I watched the documentary that I did not appreciate what we had, what I had, in him as my president back during his tenure. That's because of the tendency we (and I) have to see the negative and the worrisome in the world. Yes, I thought he was the greatest president in my lifetime (that goes back to Eisenhauer), but I just couldn't stop and smell the roses during Obama's presidency. (Just watching the documentary is so inspiring.) That's what I'm hoping we can do now, even while we prepare for action to make a better future.
@jeanne-mayell Completely agree. Plus, it's kinda sad to wait until someone is gone to appreciate the good they tried to bring into the world.
We downsized a few years ago and bought an electric car in 2018. We then put solar panels on the house to charge the car. Don't miss trips to the gas station and there has been zero maintenance on the vehicle.
@tgraf66 I agree completely.
May the light reach the people of Afghanistan and bring peace and healing to all
I have completely forgotten until today what it sounds like for a President to admit they're fallible. https://apple.news/AQlq44u-BQ8qoFqTHVb-6ag
@jeanne-mayell Abe Lincoln, who I'd argue is head and shoulders above all other Presidents, was followed by Andrew Johnson, whose reputation recently improved by virtue of someone else being clearly worse. The contrast between Obama and what-came-after was hard to live through, but not unprecedented.
@walden-ponderer Yes, Lincoln was probably the greatest president. But Obama was the greatest president in my life time and I don't know how I'd compare him to FDR and the founding fathers.
@walden-ponderer @jeanne-mayell Jimmy Carter was a good president, too. And just a good man. And his daughter Amy made me so proud- she was like the Anti-Ivanka.
@unk-p yes I forgot about Carter. If the country and the world had followed his lead, we would not have a climate crisis. I remember when he put solar panels on the White House and set forth a doctrine of human rights around the world. He also pardoned all the Vietnam draft dodgers. And so much more. The country turned right then and he never got the credit he deserved. So glad you mentioned him.
LBJ may have been a mixed bag, but we've got Medicare, Medicaid, civil rights legislation (some of which has been wrecked by SCOTUS), federal funding for legal services for the poor, the 1965 Immigration Act (which was anti-racist) and probably other stuff I'm not aware of. I know he escalated in Vietnam and that was a disaster, but domestically, we have so much because of him.
Carter was the president of my early teens and I will always remember his term with affection. He was/is a decent man who understood that doing good in the world is what's important.
I voted for Obama but I always felt he was out of touch, aloof. I haven't been able to watch the documentary because I think I've got residual anger at him. I think he got a lot of things wrong. To me he always came across as a prep school kid, and I never much took to that.
I think Biden will be my favorite president. In many ways he already is.
Clinton gave us RBG, which was a gift. Otherwise he signed so much bad legislation it deserves its own thread, but that would be a depressing thread.
Not sure if this is the right place for this info but….
This might be the beginning of the end of the republicans who aided and abetted tfg to lead an insurrection against our country. This book is coming out in September and from Jamie Gangel (reporter and wife of one of my favorite authors Daniel Silva) on CNN it is a doozy. Written by Bob Woodward, he interviewed over 200 former white house staff about all that happened from the loss of the election to Biden’s inauguration. The book should give the 1/6 commission lots of info and names to interview.
Exclusive: Title, cover and details of new Trump book from Bob Woodward and Robert Costa revealed
www.cnn.com/2021/08/16/politics/bob-woodward-robert-costa-trump-book/index.html
Today seems like a particularly heavy energy day. In the spirit of finding the good, this article found me today. It's about how California's Bay Area is helping Afghan refugees. While the article only applies to the Bay area, it gives some direction to those who are guided to help.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/08/17/how-to-help-afghan-refugees-coming-to-the-bay-area/
Today seems like a particularly heavy energy day.
Oh my goodness, I thought it was just me - felt drained and defeated most of the day. Thank you for sharing this. At this point if we had the room in our house I’d volunteer us to take on some of these poor displaced humans.
@dannyboy there is an enormous negative pile-on surge with the most current of events. A wise person once told me that the more darkness is threatened the harder it rattles the cage. Thus, we must be headed in the right direction.
I too would take in a family if I could, but am happy to provide supplies to help get those in need on their feet.
@dannyboy omg yes. It started when I woke up with this song blaring in my head: Hit me with your best shot by Pat Bennatar. That's a good song, right? Then I opened my computer with this headline story: The Last Best Shot. It's a shout out to all that we must get vaccinated. I am so glad they wrote that story.
The Afghan tragedy is also swirling and dizzying us. Massachusetts is also making room for Afghan refugees.
The Haiti earthquake is also another situation needing action.
I feel all this with butterflies in my abdomen. It's unsettling. But it's just energy rising up within me. It's just a call to action.
I have a knowing voice that it will be okay. That other people, not me, need those warnings. But because I'm an empath, I'm going to get them too. Sending healing to all.
And tonight is Circle of Light. So we will send healing to this world.
I live in Northern VA. One of the first US stops for the Afghan interpreters and other evacuated refugees is Fort Lee military base in central VA. A task force at Fort Lee has been assigned to provide temporary housing, medical screening, food, religious support and other necessities. There is a resettlement site in my county, through Lutheran Social Services.
Virginia has welcomed 8,560 refugees from Afghanistan in the past six years, and Governor Northam has made a moral commitment to take thousands more and continue to serve as a safe harbor.
Speaking of our governor: Northam's term is up this year, and there is an election in November. Terry McAuliffe is the Democratic nominee running against Glenn Youngkin, a wealthy Republican businessman. They are extremely close in the polls. Youngkin has been endorsed by the 45th and supports policies similar to those expressed by Ducey and other Republican governors. It took Youngkin months to acknowledge that Biden is our legitimate President. Among some of his proposed policies: Youngkin has expressed his opposition to mask mandates in schools (which Northam just instituted in Virginia), vaccine passports and vaccine mandates. He has encouraged people to get vaccinated, but does not require his campaign to get the vaccine. Youngkin is a law-and-order candidate (read between the lines) and tying McAuliffe to the rising crime rates in VA (fyi, McAuliffe was governor before Northam, but in VA you can't run for two consecutive terms). Youngkin paints himself as a moderate, but nothing could be further from the truth.
I'm nervous about this election. If Youngkin wins, he'll eliminate or scale back all of the progressive achievements made by McAuliffe and Northam. I can't get any intuitive read on this election because my emotions are involved. If any of you do, please share! Thanks.
@dannyboy there is an enormous negative pile-on surge with the most current of events. A wise person once told me that the more darkness is threatened the harder it rattles the cage. Thus, we must be headed in the right direction.
I too would take in a family if I could, but am happy to provide supplies to help get those in need on their feet.
@deetoo @jeanne-mayell @dannyboy
This entire week has be incredibly bleak and filled with the heaviest of energies.
A dark thick molasses syrupy heaviness where the only way to navigate out is to face off the evil gatekeeper Stephen Miller at midnight in a graveyard filled with death eaters.
This would be a great week to for a legion of angels to make their presence known. I have a feeling there will be stories of angels being told about this time for generations to come. We just haven't heard them yet.
We can ask for angels to come. We can at least to that.
Today seems like a particularly heavy energy day.
Oh my goodness, I thought it was just me - felt drained and defeated most of the day. Thank you for sharing this. At this point if we had the room in our house I’d volunteer us to take on some of these poor displaced humans.
Me too. I've had a hell of a time this summer emotionally, what with my brother passing and COVID running rampant and everything else going on in the world. I have chronic anxiety issues and the recent events do not mix well with that.
Yesterday was really bad. My brother's memorial was ten days ago-- it went well-- and I was just starting to pull out of the emotional hole when yesterday morning my son woke up sick with a low-grade fever and intestinal havoc. So of course the first thing I do is inwardly panic that he might have COVID and we're all going to get sick and/or have to quarantine and on and on... I was having a hard time functioning but -- miraculously, I got him an immediate appointment at the Univ. student health care center. he went, they checked him out thoroughly and said it was probably an intestinal bug and unlikely to be COVID , and only then was I able to deal. We both got COVID tests and the results came back negative today. WHEW. Son is feeling almost normal now.
My stomach area (solar plexus chakra) has been knotted up with anxiety for weeks. Today I found an online music recording that seemed to help-- here it is if anyone is interested>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZzXZS5q6bk
Just saw this article posted by a friend about the heaviness this week, in particular. Good stuff to keep in mind:
"So I try and remember, 1. We are still living through a global pandemic and that means the baseline of anxiety and grief is higher than ever and shared by everyone. 2. The world is on fire literally and metaphorically. But 3. I only have so much water in my bucket to help with the fires. The more exposure I have to the fires I have NO WATER to fight, the more likely I am to get so burned, and inhale so much smoke that I cannot help anymore with the fires close enough to fight once my bucket is full again.
So I try and tell myself that It’s ok to focus on one fire.
It’s ok to do what is YOURS to do. Say what’s yours to say. Care about what’s yours to care about.
That’s enough."
Just saw this article posted by a friend about the heaviness this week, in particular. Good stuff to keep in mind:
"So I try and remember, 1. We are still living through a global pandemic and that means the baseline of anxiety and grief is higher than ever and shared by everyone. 2. The world is on fire literally and metaphorically. But 3. I only have so much water in my bucket to help with the fires. The more exposure I have to the fires I have NO WATER to fight, the more likely I am to get so burned, and inhale so much smoke that I cannot help anymore with the fires close enough to fight once my bucket is full again.
So I try and tell myself that It’s ok to focus on one fire.
It’s ok to do what is YOURS to do. Say what’s yours to say. Care about what’s yours to care about.
That’s enough."
This is very good. I am trying to limit my exposure to the "fires" in the news every day but I keep peeking.