General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I'm struggling. [View all]PatrickforO
(14,559 posts)One of the things I have done is to strictly limit myself (on most days) to half hour or less of news. I take a local newspaper, and they hardly cover anything nationally, which is really BAD, but good for me wanting to just pick up local and state stuff.
The pandemic is horrible. I think I read that 2 million have already had the vaccine, so we seem to be on pace for most Americans having it by April or May.
Unfortunately, I was tasked prior to this holiday period with writing a situation report for a county government to inform discussion about where to put limited resources that they would have the biggest positive effect.
It didn't cheer me up. For many Americans, the situation is dire - millions are in danger of losing their homes, and the large food bank network serving my area reports traffic is up 59% on average this year, with around 40% of recipients first timers. They say before winter is over, 1 in 6 Americans will be 'food insecure' - a euphamism for experiencing hunger.
And yeah, the monster in the White House is setting fires because reality is closing in around him and his mind seems to be breaking down, though it never did operate all that well in the best of times.
So I've been a bit blue, too. It is funny, though. My wife is a big fan of Christmas. She decorates, and this year we had all three grandkids - she does regular daycare for two of them, so we see them often anyway, and the third had COVID a couple months ago and recovered - she's only 11. So it was good to see them.
Anyway, my wife had these Christmas carols on - I like the traditional ones, too. And a funny thing happened. As I listened, I began to feel better. I did. I can't really explain it beyond that, but as I listened, I remembered Christmases past, and my mood softened. I am devout, though not religious in an organized sense, so I love Joy to the World, Silent Night, and all the rest of the traditional carols.
One of the things that helped, too, was we watched It is a Wonderful Life, and the George C Scott version of Christmas Carol. The spirit of giving, love, and joy always seems to compete neck and neck with the spirit of greed and commercialism, but both of those movies always remind me that most people are basically good, and that sometimes it seems as if there is a power for good beyond us that works in strange and sometimes unseen ways to put us back on the right track.
I mean, look at the thing in GA. Loeffler and Perdue are both disgusting, horrible human beings, and this thing with Trump's vetos, his pardons, and his holding up the stimulus might well help the two Dems actually win.
Boy that was long. Sorry.
Just remember you aren't alone. This site has a huge number of people, and the majority of Americans are decent and sane. We've just been walking through darkness for four years.
Merry Christmas! Listen to the carols and watch a couple of sappy Christmas movies. Give when you can to those less fortunate because they are many.
On edit: "I think I read that 2 million have already had the vaccine."