Hello, good morning on the Day After The Apocalypse…
Well, you’re not surprised the world didn’t end (again) right? Â At this point the whole ‘end of the world is nigh’ stuff sounds like an updated version of crying wolf. Â We’ve heard it so many times it has no meaning, unless it’s for comedy, to encourage ‘end of the world’ shagging or for advertising purposes, or maybe as a desperate grab for media attention and adding members to your end-of-the-world cult. Â What’s really sad (besides the fact that some people fall for this shit), is that the word ‘apocalypse’ has less and less meaning every year. Â If a writer uses the word ‘apocalyptic’ these days, what effect will it have on the reader? Â Will it evoke images of unnecessary hysteria? Â Ridiculous posts to social media? Â Humorous pictures of cats? Â Apocalypse just ain’t what it used to be folks, now it’s a word that stands for ‘stupid over-hyped crap sold to the gullible masses’. Â So one task we writers have now is to find another world to evoke fear and increased sex drive in the masses.
Anyhow, waking up on 12/21/12 and finding that — as expected — everything and everyone was where I’d left it the night before, I wonder about the missed opportunity. Â Maybe we should start over. Â We’ve got people seriously suggesting we put more guns in schools to prevent people from bringing more guns into schools. Â And a host of other equally fucked up bullshit being promoted as Truth and Solutions and God’s Way. Â All of which points to a severe and depraved lack of empathy, love, generosity, open heartedness, open mindedness and humanity, not to mention basic intelligence.
So the world did not end, again. Â And even though I didn’t believe it was going to end, not even a little, I feel like this is a great opportunity to reassess my way of living in the world. Â Maybe the world was reborn overnight and it just looks the same because we expect it to be the same. Â Maybe the secret to rebirth is to believe in it, to look for it, to embody it. Â So, in that spirt, my rebirth (this time around) is about trying to be more intentional, more conscious of my actions in the world. Â I want to be reborn as someone who takes more time, who breathes more fully, who doesn’t hurry through each moment to get to the next. Â I want to be newly born as someone who savors everything more, yes, everything, even the moments/feelings/thoughts we normally judge as negative. Â Being more present in my life will hopefully allow me to see others more clearly, to be open to their needs rather than jumping in with my pre-fab rescue plan. Â Haste makes waste, that’s what comes to mind whenever I find myself hurrying through things. Â Sometimes that means I drop things, or walk into door jams, or forget stuff. Â Sometimes it means I trample all over other people’s feelings and needs. Â So my goal for this life after the end of the world is to slow the fuck down and stop being so wasteful. Â I’m hoping very much that my relationships will be all the better for this new approach.
And even if I’m completely off base, at least I didn’t wake up the day after the world was supposed to end and tell the world that the answer to gun violence was more guns, at least I wasn’t that asshole.
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