The Worst of Times and The Best of Times
As we edge closer to the 2 year anniversary of the beginning of the era of Covid Gods, I am ensconced in one of the only places in the world, it seems, where sanity prevails.
Though I may not deserve it, sometimes Lady Luck shines upon us.
The stark contrast between disparate places, such as the Peoples Republic of Kanada, and Florida, simply defy explanation. Like Kanada’s twin country North Korea, its citizens are by and large blithely unaware of their own prison in which they live and look desperately to the Government for succour.. Despite their claims to have good intentions as they demand the relinquishing of their fellow citizens’ basic rights for their ‘safety’, we should recall that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Meanwhile, the people in Florida are free, enjoying life and each other, celebrating freedom and realizing that we are here after tens of thousands of years BECAUSE of our germs, not despite our germs.
This stark contrast has brought me to consider the human spectrum around me. In particular, what I have experienced during this unprecedented display of lemming like behaviour, coupled with State totalitarianism that is straight out of Orwell’s 1984, have combined to change my circle of human interaction in a way I could never have anticipated.
I have witnessed the self immolation of many people whom I thought were lifelong friends, as they made a regressive transformation akin to a butterfly turning back into a cocoon. Stuck in a state of mental illness, resentment, anger and paranoia that would fill hospitals (if only there were beds available?), they have given up on life, freedom, curiosity, tolerance and love They have surrendered themselves without a fight. They have indeed succumbed to Nanny State Nervosa.
Unquestionably, the greatest test for a friendship is not in a celebratory context, but rather when the times are challenging. Dark times test the currents of love and intimacy. Some old friendships have revealed themselves to me for the empty shell that they were. The key for me has been not to be so disappointed by this, but to see it as an opportunity of discovery and rebirth.
It is said that friends are difficult to make as one gets older. On the contrary, I have met and connected with a completely new set of people whom I now call my friends. I have also reconnected with friends from long ago. Some have been surprises, people that suddenly appeared like a blessing out of nowhere. Some have been people that were in my life already but, like in a play, suddenly came out as a leading character. Most have been more recent immigrants. They seem to understand something about what this all means more than the sullen long-time Canadians in a trance. All of these new friends have touched me and given me faith in the possibilities of human consciousness. All share an intelligence, independence and strength that have defined those who have not submitted to the State and Media tag teaming bullies.
As much as I have been shocked at the dark side of many people in this era, I am also inspired by what is now a counter culture of people who are not giving in, who still believe in human intimacy, individual freedom and common sense. Though the pressure is mounting daily, they do not bend.
The author G. Michael Hopf said “Hard times create strong people, strong people create good times, good times create weak people, and weak people create hard times.” The quote is deliciously circular, prescient and perhaps at its core a profound explanation of why we are here. You can decide for yourself which stage we are presently in.
The reality may be that we are in the middle of the best of times and the worst of times concurrently. Two oddly dissonant concepts might, in a sense, be in themselves a positive force when acting in concert to help forge new and salubrious human intimacy for those who still seek it.