Oh , can I feel all of your words here in the US of America.
“There’s something else too, in the air. Something ominous. Something that makes the world feel like a prisoner, standing on the scaffold, hands tied, hood on, noose ready, trembling on the trap door. Something that makes the world feel like a stumbling drunk who’s fallen and yet to hit the ground, sailing through the air, face first, toward the pavement, shouting obscenities. Everything. In. Slow. Motion. But. The. Outcome. Inevitable.
( Only hope can change the scenario)
Apropos. The noose was a reality , erected in front of the capital , set up for a vice president who would not stand next to the man who refused to relinquish the presidency when it was time for him to step down in fair loss. January 6th 2021. A call to arms by an evil Con man. Calling all feeble minded like individuals to a Civil War.
Scroll forward and he is a convicted felon of 34 counts ( and still counting).
“ It’s bring your felon to work day” said by one man that still speaks intelligently for the people.
The reality of just two days ago, as said felon made his first return to Capital Hill, to cheerlead endless lies as his people ‘bowed and kissed his , well, where the sun don’t shine’. Some of the exact same people who hid under benches as warmongers bashed down the doors.
Should we be afraid of this likely candidate ?
The whole world should.
“There are colossal storm clouds building up on the horizon. I’ve seen them before, these dark clouds, and I wonder if the eventual deluge will bring relief from this suffocating stillness, or wash all of us away.”
Phew, I need to go outside and take Ranger for a walk…
Yes, the dark clouds do seem to be firmly parked over Capitol Hill, with that horrendous person orchestrating some truly unfathomable behaviour in the US political body. A sad and dangerous time, for sure.
I'm going to take Benny too. Get some sanity in my bones.
Thanks Lor, for being a human in these dehumanising times
Yep, dogs seem not to create symbolic meaning in their thinking, which might just be the thing that keeps them sane (not a catchy phrase for a T-shirt I’ll admit 😂)
Ok, back from our walk. I feel lighter now. The darkness, blown away by the gale force winds coming across the lake. Well , almost gale force, 25mph which did not deter Ranger from charging in for a quick swim. Ears flying , tail ruddering, lucky dog.
Before the wind took my thoughts, I remembered this old classic song. I am sure you would be familiar with. It is the remake of the song by a different artist that I am sending along. While I grew up with these words, I never really heard them until this artist added his own mesmerizing voice, beautiful, dark and haunting . Though you may have heard this, sometimes listening again, may take you to a different place. I think you will see why I thought of you.
Beware, it is potent…
( video below)
“Echoes in the Quiet:
The song 'The Sound Of Silence' as covered by Disturbed is a powerful rendition of the original by Simon & Garfunkel. The lyrics speak to a profound sense of alienation and the inability to communicate in a world saturated with superficial connections. The opening lines, 'Hello darkness, my old friend,' set a tone of familiarity with isolation, suggesting that the speaker finds solace in the quiet when true connection fails.
As the song progresses, it paints a picture of a society where people are physically close but emotionally distant—'People talking without speaking, People hearing without listening.' This paradox highlights the emptiness of conversations where words are spoken, but the essence of communication, which is understanding and connection, is absent. The 'neon god' they worship represents the modern idols of technology and consumerism that demand attention but offer no real substance in return. The song concludes with a sense of missed opportunity, as the speaker's attempt to reach out and teach is lost like 'silent raindrops' in the overwhelming 'wells of silence.' The final verse, referencing the 'words of the prophets' on 'subway walls and tenement halls,' suggests that truth and wisdom are found in the most humble and overlooked places, yet they are drowned out by the pervasive noise of society. Disturbed's version, with its haunting intensity, amplifies the song's themes of disconnection and the search for meaning in the modern world.”
That's such a brilliant analysis of The Sound Of Silence. I've heard that song plenty of times but I've never thought of it in those terms. You've opened a fascinating view of something that I've not noticed and which seemed a little different. Thank you.
It's a little sad too, that there are so many brilliant people saying over and over again that society/the social space/the economic system etc. are on the wrong track and heading for despair and disaster, and still we race toward the cliff edge. Maybe we need to listen to those in the "humble and overlooked places" a little more.
I really appreciate that you've introduced me to this again Lor 🙏🏽 (and I still think you should get on with writing stuff. Obviously!)
You speak for many of us with this piece. Thank you. I know the only way out is through right now, but at times I feel paralyzed with grief and anger. Over and over, I refocus on where my power is and tell myself to stay there, to stay here, in this moment, to lift my eyes to the tree canopies and the sky above them or lower my eyes to the garden I kneel in, the feel of the soil, the smell of my blooming flowers and herbs. I smile at people. I am kind, friendly. Internally, I grieve for all people, everywhere, and this beautiful planet we have so despoiled. Each day I choose to engage with another day, to be still, to let be, to smile and allow joy. I can write apocalyptic stories. I can write stories of grace and hope and faith, too. I try to remember to keep them balanced.
Coping mechanisms and strategies to come to terms with the slow motion carnage are so vital. So many are at the end of their tether, but those with intact emotional architecture must survive the moment in order to honour this privilege of being alive. And to come through the other side.
I do take solace in knowing we are not blind to the madness, and that the madness is not within us but in the broken society in which we are embedded.
Thanks for reading and commenting Jennifer. I feel better knowing there are like minded people. Thanks
I applaud your ability to write on a subject that leaves me seething with anger with elegant eloquence - I hear you Jonathan, loudly and clearly, also with with tears and fears for humanity. I am deeply thankful that Sweden, at least, have voted wisely and with thoughts for all people, no matter their origins. I watched in horror as the results rolled out here… the overwhelming majority falling to the right, leaving hope for so many flailing in deep water… I curse, in undignified fashion, the small mindedness of this nation that I have chosen to live in and have loved deeply since a child.
“There are colossal storm clouds on the horizon. I’ve seen them before, these dark clouds, and I wonder if the eventual deluge will bring relief from this suffocating stillness, or was all of us away”
Moi aussi!
“We cannot live in a world where people are ranked, where people are dehumanised, where psychopaths and sycophants are rewarded, where the vulnerable are exploited while the powerful are unduly rewarded, and not expect the smiling faces of evil to shine their pearly whites.”
But sadly we do, the accumulation of evidence is now a sickeningly precarious, about to topple over mountain of shame which we, the honest, the good and the kind, the lovers of life and all people will have no option but to tidy up when it does… if we have the emotional strength to do so…
I hear you and weep Jonathan… and I will be the first to “help smiling angels gather up the broken pieces” 🕊️
I think a few years back and my capacity to write without seething would have been more challenging.
Sweden is no poster child though, even if there is a slowing of the stupidity in this election. The rate of inequality growth here has been the fastest in Europe as the neoliberal nutters turn all of life into algorithms for their own advantage.
I'm heartened though, genuinely, because most people would accept/welcome radical changes for the better if the chance arose. It's just that the political structures are designed to minimize the chance of any real improvements.
Anyway, thanks for reading and being here and balancing the world out with your care and kindness, Susie.
I feel your anxiety in my bones and beating in my heart. I know this house of cards must fall at some point, I just hope we can mitigate the loss of life (wild and tamed) and that the collective hug can truly be filled with the kindness, compassion, and grace you hope for as well.
It's strange isn't it? This cocktail of fear and excitement, trepidation and certainty? It's a scary thing to imagine the house of cards falling but equally scary to imagine it blundering on and on.
I guess the "natural" experience is the witnessing of rising, blooming and falling of civilizations and values and ideas, yet also the continuation of values and ideas as they reform into new social entities. I just hope, as you do, that after this fall there'll be something left from which the new can rise.
It is lonely inside the box, it is terrifying outside the box. But some times voices like yours enter the box and remind me there is still hope out there. Thank you, Jonathan.
And please let me tell you that your painting is magnificent.
I need some fresh air, that's for sure. I just don't know what to do when out of the box. Maybe haul others with me? Two is better than one - what if we were too many? Would that make a difference?
That is an excellent point. One peculiarity of our present historical moment is a fundamental lack of imagining about the future, or as you so presciently say, “what to do when out of the box”.
Most future imagining seems to be so rooted in values of the past. These ridiculous billionaires were suffering all dream as if the imagination ended in the 1950s.
(In fact I’m somewhat rehashing the thesis of the excellent (and missed) writer Mark Fisher in his book Capitalist Realism)
Anyway, the challenge of the current period seems to be reimagining a future and thus having some idea what being out of the box might even be like. Time to stop looking over our shoulders and to look bravely ahead instead perhaps, especially because of all this uncertainty?
(I think I’m just trying to avoid talking about the painting!)
The ridiculous billionaires have dreams that are far from reality, certainly our every-day reality. We can't touch them, we can't change them, but we can change the way we think and act. And I guess you're right, it's time to look bravely ahead.
I read something the other day that's stuck in my mind. It is a passage from Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony book and somehow it resonates with your post.
Now, I am not going to mention again that delicate matter you keep avoiding, but let me tell you this Jonathan: don't be like me, come out from behind the sofa :)
That really made me laugh. Thanks. I am caught red-handed preaching from behind my own sofa. Brilliant. :)
Thanks for the Leslie Marmon Silko quote. I read that as well, and at the time I'd thought I'd like to word it as not a "change" of human consciousness, but a "return to" human consciousness. But maybe that's just the way I romanticise the deep past in my atheistic leanings toward the doctrine of the Fall.
Right, now what? Out from behind the sofa and the box? I'm feeling dizzy.
I'm so glad this has resonated with you Annie, and thanks so much for reading and commenting. It does feel better that there are so many like-minded people, even if we sometimes feel unrepresented and fragile.
Oh , can I feel all of your words here in the US of America.
“There’s something else too, in the air. Something ominous. Something that makes the world feel like a prisoner, standing on the scaffold, hands tied, hood on, noose ready, trembling on the trap door. Something that makes the world feel like a stumbling drunk who’s fallen and yet to hit the ground, sailing through the air, face first, toward the pavement, shouting obscenities. Everything. In. Slow. Motion. But. The. Outcome. Inevitable.
( Only hope can change the scenario)
Apropos. The noose was a reality , erected in front of the capital , set up for a vice president who would not stand next to the man who refused to relinquish the presidency when it was time for him to step down in fair loss. January 6th 2021. A call to arms by an evil Con man. Calling all feeble minded like individuals to a Civil War.
Scroll forward and he is a convicted felon of 34 counts ( and still counting).
“ It’s bring your felon to work day” said by one man that still speaks intelligently for the people.
The reality of just two days ago, as said felon made his first return to Capital Hill, to cheerlead endless lies as his people ‘bowed and kissed his , well, where the sun don’t shine’. Some of the exact same people who hid under benches as warmongers bashed down the doors.
Should we be afraid of this likely candidate ?
The whole world should.
“There are colossal storm clouds building up on the horizon. I’ve seen them before, these dark clouds, and I wonder if the eventual deluge will bring relief from this suffocating stillness, or wash all of us away.”
Phew, I need to go outside and take Ranger for a walk…
Yes, the dark clouds do seem to be firmly parked over Capitol Hill, with that horrendous person orchestrating some truly unfathomable behaviour in the US political body. A sad and dangerous time, for sure.
I'm going to take Benny too. Get some sanity in my bones.
Thanks Lor, for being a human in these dehumanising times
Thank goodness for dogs and like minded people.
My husband is a bit more blunt than me. His baseball hat reads;
Dogs Cuz People Suck
where as I , am about to order a T-shirt, More Dogs Less People.😊🦮
Yep, dogs seem not to create symbolic meaning in their thinking, which might just be the thing that keeps them sane (not a catchy phrase for a T-shirt I’ll admit 😂)
( I can come up with some graphics for that)
Ok, back from our walk. I feel lighter now. The darkness, blown away by the gale force winds coming across the lake. Well , almost gale force, 25mph which did not deter Ranger from charging in for a quick swim. Ears flying , tail ruddering, lucky dog.
Before the wind took my thoughts, I remembered this old classic song. I am sure you would be familiar with. It is the remake of the song by a different artist that I am sending along. While I grew up with these words, I never really heard them until this artist added his own mesmerizing voice, beautiful, dark and haunting . Though you may have heard this, sometimes listening again, may take you to a different place. I think you will see why I thought of you.
Beware, it is potent…
( video below)
“Echoes in the Quiet:
The song 'The Sound Of Silence' as covered by Disturbed is a powerful rendition of the original by Simon & Garfunkel. The lyrics speak to a profound sense of alienation and the inability to communicate in a world saturated with superficial connections. The opening lines, 'Hello darkness, my old friend,' set a tone of familiarity with isolation, suggesting that the speaker finds solace in the quiet when true connection fails.
As the song progresses, it paints a picture of a society where people are physically close but emotionally distant—'People talking without speaking, People hearing without listening.' This paradox highlights the emptiness of conversations where words are spoken, but the essence of communication, which is understanding and connection, is absent. The 'neon god' they worship represents the modern idols of technology and consumerism that demand attention but offer no real substance in return. The song concludes with a sense of missed opportunity, as the speaker's attempt to reach out and teach is lost like 'silent raindrops' in the overwhelming 'wells of silence.' The final verse, referencing the 'words of the prophets' on 'subway walls and tenement halls,' suggests that truth and wisdom are found in the most humble and overlooked places, yet they are drowned out by the pervasive noise of society. Disturbed's version, with its haunting intensity, amplifies the song's themes of disconnection and the search for meaning in the modern world.”
(Video⬇️)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Dg-g7t2l4
Thanks Lor, I did miss this!
That's such a brilliant analysis of The Sound Of Silence. I've heard that song plenty of times but I've never thought of it in those terms. You've opened a fascinating view of something that I've not noticed and which seemed a little different. Thank you.
It's a little sad too, that there are so many brilliant people saying over and over again that society/the social space/the economic system etc. are on the wrong track and heading for despair and disaster, and still we race toward the cliff edge. Maybe we need to listen to those in the "humble and overlooked places" a little more.
I really appreciate that you've introduced me to this again Lor 🙏🏽 (and I still think you should get on with writing stuff. Obviously!)
You speak for many of us with this piece. Thank you. I know the only way out is through right now, but at times I feel paralyzed with grief and anger. Over and over, I refocus on where my power is and tell myself to stay there, to stay here, in this moment, to lift my eyes to the tree canopies and the sky above them or lower my eyes to the garden I kneel in, the feel of the soil, the smell of my blooming flowers and herbs. I smile at people. I am kind, friendly. Internally, I grieve for all people, everywhere, and this beautiful planet we have so despoiled. Each day I choose to engage with another day, to be still, to let be, to smile and allow joy. I can write apocalyptic stories. I can write stories of grace and hope and faith, too. I try to remember to keep them balanced.
Coping mechanisms and strategies to come to terms with the slow motion carnage are so vital. So many are at the end of their tether, but those with intact emotional architecture must survive the moment in order to honour this privilege of being alive. And to come through the other side.
I do take solace in knowing we are not blind to the madness, and that the madness is not within us but in the broken society in which we are embedded.
Thanks for reading and commenting Jennifer. I feel better knowing there are like minded people. Thanks
I applaud your ability to write on a subject that leaves me seething with anger with elegant eloquence - I hear you Jonathan, loudly and clearly, also with with tears and fears for humanity. I am deeply thankful that Sweden, at least, have voted wisely and with thoughts for all people, no matter their origins. I watched in horror as the results rolled out here… the overwhelming majority falling to the right, leaving hope for so many flailing in deep water… I curse, in undignified fashion, the small mindedness of this nation that I have chosen to live in and have loved deeply since a child.
“There are colossal storm clouds on the horizon. I’ve seen them before, these dark clouds, and I wonder if the eventual deluge will bring relief from this suffocating stillness, or was all of us away”
Moi aussi!
“We cannot live in a world where people are ranked, where people are dehumanised, where psychopaths and sycophants are rewarded, where the vulnerable are exploited while the powerful are unduly rewarded, and not expect the smiling faces of evil to shine their pearly whites.”
But sadly we do, the accumulation of evidence is now a sickeningly precarious, about to topple over mountain of shame which we, the honest, the good and the kind, the lovers of life and all people will have no option but to tidy up when it does… if we have the emotional strength to do so…
I hear you and weep Jonathan… and I will be the first to “help smiling angels gather up the broken pieces” 🕊️
I think a few years back and my capacity to write without seething would have been more challenging.
Sweden is no poster child though, even if there is a slowing of the stupidity in this election. The rate of inequality growth here has been the fastest in Europe as the neoliberal nutters turn all of life into algorithms for their own advantage.
I'm heartened though, genuinely, because most people would accept/welcome radical changes for the better if the chance arose. It's just that the political structures are designed to minimize the chance of any real improvements.
Anyway, thanks for reading and being here and balancing the world out with your care and kindness, Susie.
That's what I call a quality rant, a first rate diatribe. This caught my eye because they are like something out of The Lord of the Rings.
"We all saw them coming because they’ve always been here, waiting in the shadows to be released once more into the daylight."
That’s exactly what they are like, the dark scary hidden and shameful creatures lurking in so many of us.
Yep. Just a mini rant this time ;)
Well, the world is highly rantable or is it rantible? Happy Father's Day to you even if you are not a father.
Happy Dad's day to you too! My youngest graduated from high school last week so I qualify, still, although here Father's Day was a few months back.
That's lovely to hear and thank you.
Oh this aches Jonathan, and I feel it with you. 🙏
I missed this one Kimeberly. Apologies. And thanks, there is something about a pain shared :)
I feel your anxiety in my bones and beating in my heart. I know this house of cards must fall at some point, I just hope we can mitigate the loss of life (wild and tamed) and that the collective hug can truly be filled with the kindness, compassion, and grace you hope for as well.
It's strange isn't it? This cocktail of fear and excitement, trepidation and certainty? It's a scary thing to imagine the house of cards falling but equally scary to imagine it blundering on and on.
I guess the "natural" experience is the witnessing of rising, blooming and falling of civilizations and values and ideas, yet also the continuation of values and ideas as they reform into new social entities. I just hope, as you do, that after this fall there'll be something left from which the new can rise.
It is lonely inside the box, it is terrifying outside the box. But some times voices like yours enter the box and remind me there is still hope out there. Thank you, Jonathan.
And please let me tell you that your painting is magnificent.
Thanks Fotini 🙏🏼 time to clamber out of our boxes perhaps? After all, aren’t they boxes of our own making, I wonder?
And thanks for mentioning my painting, although “magnificent”? Mmmm, you’re very generous 😂
I need some fresh air, that's for sure. I just don't know what to do when out of the box. Maybe haul others with me? Two is better than one - what if we were too many? Would that make a difference?
As for the painting I mean it. 💛
That is an excellent point. One peculiarity of our present historical moment is a fundamental lack of imagining about the future, or as you so presciently say, “what to do when out of the box”.
Most future imagining seems to be so rooted in values of the past. These ridiculous billionaires were suffering all dream as if the imagination ended in the 1950s.
(In fact I’m somewhat rehashing the thesis of the excellent (and missed) writer Mark Fisher in his book Capitalist Realism)
Anyway, the challenge of the current period seems to be reimagining a future and thus having some idea what being out of the box might even be like. Time to stop looking over our shoulders and to look bravely ahead instead perhaps, especially because of all this uncertainty?
(I think I’m just trying to avoid talking about the painting!)
The ridiculous billionaires have dreams that are far from reality, certainly our every-day reality. We can't touch them, we can't change them, but we can change the way we think and act. And I guess you're right, it's time to look bravely ahead.
I read something the other day that's stuck in my mind. It is a passage from Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony book and somehow it resonates with your post.
https://substack.com/@mayacpopa/note/c-59070277
Now, I am not going to mention again that delicate matter you keep avoiding, but let me tell you this Jonathan: don't be like me, come out from behind the sofa :)
That really made me laugh. Thanks. I am caught red-handed preaching from behind my own sofa. Brilliant. :)
Thanks for the Leslie Marmon Silko quote. I read that as well, and at the time I'd thought I'd like to word it as not a "change" of human consciousness, but a "return to" human consciousness. But maybe that's just the way I romanticise the deep past in my atheistic leanings toward the doctrine of the Fall.
Right, now what? Out from behind the sofa and the box? I'm feeling dizzy.
I like the "return to" or maybe remember.
Now brace yourself :) :) :)
I weave with you Jonathan, here in Texas. both in sorrow and the struggle to hope. Thank you.
The tighter the weave the stronger we feel :)
I'm so glad this has resonated with you Annie, and thanks so much for reading and commenting. It does feel better that there are so many like-minded people, even if we sometimes feel unrepresented and fragile.
🙏🏽
In case you may have missed it, go to ‘our’ thread, there’s one more.