I’ve been wanting to write another article
for this blog for some time, but time and energy constraints have prevented
that. This is just a short post to get a few things posted.
Firstly, I’ve started doing some
interviews, and hope to get those appearing as a regular feature next year.
Next, I have done some post on my political
blog which I will mention: one on crime,
and one on the Rohingya
genocide.
I’m also contemplating writing something
about whether the USA and my nation (and others) are heading down the same path
as Germany in the 1930s …
I had been planning on writing an article
on fear, around the fact that fear includes a fear of the struggle to earn a
living. This is made worse for older women by the history of limited education,
and a focus – often forced by society - on family duties; it is questionably
enforced by women who enforce stereotypes. See here
for the story of one woman who rocked the boat of compliant women by leaving
her children (and I have a TED talk lined
up to listen to from a woman who is annoyed by those who tell her she will
change her mind about not having children). Such fears have to be faced a and
overcome – by a combination of education, enabling catch up for lost
opportunities, and honest personal growth. (I
would be happy for such women to stop trying to hold other women back.)
Some time ago I posted a new quotation:
Beware the enforcers of conformity - those small people who, sharing the banality of evil, cannot abide that others may demonstrate that doing the same as everyone else is not compulsory.
Examples of such people include the manager
at work who is promoting the company line despite personal doubts, and the
aforementioned women who are critical of other women who don’t stick to the
stereotype.
Next, I had an idea for an article on “shooting
oneself in the foot”, but I didn’t have a chance to write down the spiritual
example of this (I was driving at the
time), and, unusually, that hasn’t come back to me – leaving me with, as
examples, the taxi drivers who have made ride-sharing services attractive by
things like not turning up, being opinionated and unpleasant, etc, and the “check
out people” who made it easier for people to use self-service aisles by being
arrogant, disinterested and judgemental / superior.
Finally, the coming time of year is, in
nations with a neochristian background (which you DON’T
have to be part of, if you faith is different), a commercialism/materialism driven
nightmare. You DON’T have to buy into that – anyone who gets snarky about
limited presents isn’t worth anything, and you DON’T have to put up with
unpleasant family – people in families have to prove themselves worthy, and if
you doubt that, think about those people in families who are abusive – including
of children, sometimes sexually. No-one has to put up with that, and you DON’T
have to put up with obnoxious relatives trying to shove their views down your
throat. (You also DON’T have to socialise with incompatible people at work functions.)
On the other hand, family can be good, and
I’m looking forward to spending time with one family and talking to the other,
as I am fortunate and blessed. However, having worked at a phone counselling
service, I know how desperate this time can be, and I’m mindful of police
warnings about the increase in domestic violence at this time of year.
It is, for those who are so inclined, an
enormous opportunity to do effective psychic work.
Stay safe and well.
