Thank you so much for this - speaking the truth in such a clear calm way. So many people seem to be hiding from the reality of what's happening - which I do understand. Then too there is often either so much despair or anger or anguish in people's voices that it's hard to listen, when of course we are filled with those emotions too. This fills me with calm determination.
Thank you very much, Deborah. I have many moments when I'm not very calm, either! But I always try to come back to a centered place - otherwise no one will listen to anything, they'll just react. I also need to work on understanding why people -- good people -- are hiding from reality. You say you do, and that's good, but I'm having trouble with it. The people I struggle with are not helpless people, nor are they conservatives, and they don't seem to be depressed. They're comfortable, they have resources and time -- but they don't seem to care about others, just themselves. Nazism grew because of people like that, not just those who adulated Hitler. If you have insights on this, please tell me. I'm trying not to judge and just do what feels right to me.
I should have been clearer about saying I feel able to understand those who seem to be hiding. What I meant really was that I understand the tendency in myself, and when I recognise it in other people that I know, I sympathise. But I am chronically unwell and caring for an ailing husband, and I know others who are also struggling personally and find the horrors of the world overwhelm them. On Instagram I have been vocal and active in my support for Palestinians which I continue to do, and I confess I've been using Substack as a refuge for solace away from the fray. And I feel the disconnect - it disturbs me. But it confounds me to find so few people expressing solidarity and speaking out here on this platform, when there are so many things going on all over the world that really must be called out. And that silence, that kind of looking away - that I absolutely cannot understand. And that really disturbs me. Maybe it's the algorithm, maybe I'm only following people who are clearly only interested in talking about their creative selves. But it weighs heavily on me.
Deborah, thank you for finding words to explain exactly what you meant. You are right that many people who are struggling with personal problems are overwhelmed -- why wouldn't they be? In the past two years, when I was concerned with my father's decline and nearness to death, and then with a whole new set of inherited responsibilities, I couldn't engage with the larger world in the same way - it was simply impossible. Looking for solace is natural. I know that many people have come to my blog over the years for exactly that - some peace, quiet, and beauty. So it's difficult for me to hold the various parts of myself together and figure out what to write; I can't ignore what's happening and be silent about it, nor can I neglect the fact that I actively want this place to be a source of solace. So it is a balance, as all of life is. I try to believe that everyone is doing the best that they can, and that it's not my job to judge, but to try to be true to myself. I really appreciate you talking this through with me today, it's been very helpful to me. I wish you the best as you navigate all of these challenges.
Yes, yes, and yes. The smoke, the culture, the collapse, the obscurity, the rhetoric, the denial, it's all connected. This may be my favourite essay of yours. Every word of it. And the painting is among your very best.
Thank you, Beth. You articulate my own feelings so well.
Thank you so much for this - speaking the truth in such a clear calm way. So many people seem to be hiding from the reality of what's happening - which I do understand. Then too there is often either so much despair or anger or anguish in people's voices that it's hard to listen, when of course we are filled with those emotions too. This fills me with calm determination.
Thank you very much, Deborah. I have many moments when I'm not very calm, either! But I always try to come back to a centered place - otherwise no one will listen to anything, they'll just react. I also need to work on understanding why people -- good people -- are hiding from reality. You say you do, and that's good, but I'm having trouble with it. The people I struggle with are not helpless people, nor are they conservatives, and they don't seem to be depressed. They're comfortable, they have resources and time -- but they don't seem to care about others, just themselves. Nazism grew because of people like that, not just those who adulated Hitler. If you have insights on this, please tell me. I'm trying not to judge and just do what feels right to me.
I should have been clearer about saying I feel able to understand those who seem to be hiding. What I meant really was that I understand the tendency in myself, and when I recognise it in other people that I know, I sympathise. But I am chronically unwell and caring for an ailing husband, and I know others who are also struggling personally and find the horrors of the world overwhelm them. On Instagram I have been vocal and active in my support for Palestinians which I continue to do, and I confess I've been using Substack as a refuge for solace away from the fray. And I feel the disconnect - it disturbs me. But it confounds me to find so few people expressing solidarity and speaking out here on this platform, when there are so many things going on all over the world that really must be called out. And that silence, that kind of looking away - that I absolutely cannot understand. And that really disturbs me. Maybe it's the algorithm, maybe I'm only following people who are clearly only interested in talking about their creative selves. But it weighs heavily on me.
Thank you again for the post.
Deborah, thank you for finding words to explain exactly what you meant. You are right that many people who are struggling with personal problems are overwhelmed -- why wouldn't they be? In the past two years, when I was concerned with my father's decline and nearness to death, and then with a whole new set of inherited responsibilities, I couldn't engage with the larger world in the same way - it was simply impossible. Looking for solace is natural. I know that many people have come to my blog over the years for exactly that - some peace, quiet, and beauty. So it's difficult for me to hold the various parts of myself together and figure out what to write; I can't ignore what's happening and be silent about it, nor can I neglect the fact that I actively want this place to be a source of solace. So it is a balance, as all of life is. I try to believe that everyone is doing the best that they can, and that it's not my job to judge, but to try to be true to myself. I really appreciate you talking this through with me today, it's been very helpful to me. I wish you the best as you navigate all of these challenges.
Thank you so much Beth. This conversation has really helped me, too! I wish you all the very best as well.
Yes, yes, and yes. The smoke, the culture, the collapse, the obscurity, the rhetoric, the denial, it's all connected. This may be my favourite essay of yours. Every word of it. And the painting is among your very best.
Thank you so much, dear Edward. I wish I didn't have to write a word of it, or paint the picture.