We Shall Overcome

Good Morning My Confidants

In these rough times, with so much going on that's frightening, I hope it's still is find you well.

I know that I simply can't believe what's going on. It'd be easy to lose hope. But I can't, folks, I can't. If I do that I could slip into despair again, and I'm not going to do that.

There are worries and disappointments. My mom's health for one thing. And last night there was a going to be a Fourth of July celebration that consisted of a lot of drones and RBear has to work on the 4th and the 5th, 12-hour shifts, so we were really looking forward to last night and then about a half an hour to an hour before we were supposed to leave it started to pour and thunder. And it looks like thunderstorms tonight. Fireworks are his favorite thing in the world. Not the BOOMING kind, the pretty kind. Those ones that you're supposed to say, "Oooohhhh!" and "Aaaahhhh!" about! And he's fallen in love with the drones, and that's so good to animals of all kinds.

But you know my mom is probably going to outlive me. She's stubborn that way. And fireworks? There's been a lifetime of them and if we have to wait till next year, that's okay. I'm exceedingly proud of how well RBear has dealt with the disappointment.

It would be easy to fall into fear and despair.

But as I've said here many times, when talking about the Four Noble Truths, in life there is suffering. But the true suffering comes in the way we deal with it. Do we obsess with all the bad? Or do we believe that this too shall pass?

Now that doesn't mean sitting on the sidelines and just saying, "Oh, this too shall pass." We have to do our part. I have to do my part.

If I know it, I will grow it. And if I name it I will claim it. What I think about I bring about.

So, if I sit around wallowing in my fears, I'm going to grow my fears. I'm going to claim fears. I'm going to bring about fears. I will have things to fear, and I'll pull into my life (even if it is "only" mentally) more to be afraid of.

I won't, I can't, do that anymore.

And so, I will say over and over and over and over that, "we will overcome." And not "someday." Not "some day." We are doing it now.

The conservatives and the religious right and all those who are trying to take away our rights are terrified. The world is changing. It's changing faster and faster into a better place and they are terrified. They have completely blinded and deafened themselves and to seeing that it is "better." They are caught up in the fantasy that "the way things used to be" is better

They are blind to the fact that it never "used to be" that way. Terrible things were going on, we just didn't talk about them. They didn't show up in our living room on the television. A neighbor beat their children? Or their wife? People minded their own "business." People looked the other way. Mostly, so they could continue their fantasy that everything was great.

Those ridiculous memes we see every day about how we used to be able to ride in the back of trucks and not wear seat belts and drink from the hose and all of that and look we're just fine, ignores all the people who aren't fine. The kid that flew out of the back of the truck and died. The people that died in car accidents.

They "used to be" was a fantasy. What those people actually are wanting he has to go back to hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil, and therefore, know no evil.

Unless of course the evil was harming them.....

A friend I was speaking to the other day... that just shocked me in their ignorance of what was going on with other people, and their ANGER that other people don't want to be treated like shit anymore. The, "Why should I do what they're asking of me?" because.... Well the truth is, it would be inconvenient, and would force people to think about stuff they don't want to think about.

The world being "woke" is incredible. The mentality that there's only a fraction of the world's population that wants to be treated differently is a fantasy. More and more and more people are speaking up and we're finding that this fraction of the population is a much bigger chunk and we ever imagined.

Just treat people well. No excuses. No, "Why should Is?" No bullshit! Just treat people the way you want to be treated! That's what it comes down to dammit! Just be nice! What is the problem with just being nice? Don't tell yourself how it inconveniences you. Because it doesn't. It might take a little getting used to, but we sure as hell got used cellphones, didn't we?

Remember when there was one little black phone in the house with a cord about two feet long? And how hideously expensive it was to make a long distance phone call? We sure that shit don't do that anymore. It's nice to be able to call anybody at any time in the country, and if you use the internet you can talk to anybody in the world!

I certainly remember when my smoker friends got bent out of shape about the fact that you couldn't smoke in restaurants anymore. Thank God. I can remember them saying that all these restaurants were going to go out of business because customers weren't going to stand for it. Guess what? They did. If they wanted to eat and they didn't want to make it themselves. They got over it really goddamn fast, didn't they?

Lately I've been watching a bunch of videos by Matthew Baume. He does stuff about changing queer Cinema and television. It's mind-boggling how much things have changed for the better. People used to lose their minds about "All in the Family" and all the messages that it slipped in with the laughs. And you know what kind of messages they were? They were WOKE messages! And Archie Bunker, that bigot and racist, was somebody was afraid of change. And through him, a huge part of the world started to see the ugliness inside themselves. And people changed. All in the Family was about accepting women, people of color, gay people, and far more.

This is not new people!

In fact, there was this man who became a famous teacher who lived two thousand years ago who taught us to love each other! They made a religion about Him.

What we think about we bring about. If we just love our neighbor as ourselves, then we're going to get love in return. And we're going to find it in surprising places.

When it rains look for the rainbows. Don't sit around and despair about the rain. Even if it's flooding your basement. Because then you're going to have flooded basement and despair about the flooded basement. I'm not saying to dance a jig. But don't focus all your energy on the bad shit.

If it's night, look for the stars. When our lives are going to darkness, we have to look for the light. Open our eyes WIDE, and look for the light! Otherwise, we have darkness, and....well....darkness.

And in the morning, make yourself a good pot of coffee. Not the cheap shit either. If you had to do without something, do without something, and get you the really good coffee. And savor it. Smell it sip it and love it. Smile. Start your day right. Let that feeling fill you up. The goodness. And then take that goodness out into the day with you. Let it ripple out ahead of you. Let it hit other people, and maybe they'll smile.

It's really not that fucking hard.

Not that I haven't had days that it seems impossible. But did you know that there really is something to the "Fake it until you make it"? I can tell you that I recovering alcoholic whose dear and near to me has discovered it's true. That person is closing in on 2 years sober. Something this person never thought they could do. And this person is so much happier.

Do me a favor.

Be kind to someone today.

You don't have to make a house payment for them. You don't even have to, as you're going through the McDonald's drive-thru, of buying the food for the person behind you.

Just hold the door open for somebody. If you see an older person struggling in the parking lot trying to get their groceries into their car, offer to help them. Just smile at someone. Give them a wave and, with sincerity, ask them how they're doing. Hey! Here's something that's really kind. If they actually tell you, as in things aren't going well for them, give them five freaking minutes. Nod. Say, "I hear you." People want to be heard. Desperately.

Inconvenience yourself by giving them five or ten minutes to talk. I know you've been waiting for that break at work, but just go ahead and give them your break. Tell them you feel for them. If they're a friend, tell them that you love them.

I mean, as that Teacher said, love your neighbor as yourself. It's not just a bumper sticker. Make it a way of life. I absolutely promise you there will be so many rewards you just can't believe it.

A friend of mine startled me the other day when she told me that I "love fiercely." I had to pause. Pull it in. And I knew she was right. I do love fiercely. It's who I am. I don't want to be anybody else. I don't want to be the person that walks by the guy lying there in the gutter by the side of the road. And for that I have a genuine fear of helping them, I can certainly call the police.

I'm going to say something. I'm going to say it out loud.

"We will overcome. We are overcoming. Love always wins. We will overcome. We are overcoming. Love always wins. We will overcome. We are overcoming. Love always wins."

Anyone want to join me?

"We will overcome. We are overcoming. Love always wins."

Believe it.

And what we think about, we will bring about.

Trust me

Take a deep breath, and believe me.

Namasté,

BG "Gentle Ben" Thomas