 |
| Friendship Fountain, Jacksonville, FL © Lloyd Lemons |
Freedom to live while continuing to resist.
It’s a sweltering summer here in NE Florida, as it’s been in many other areas of the US. It’s a great time to stay inside, shelter from the storm, and reevaluate some of life’s conundrums. I’ve been thinking a lot about the direction my life will take in the coming months and years. I think it would be wise for all Americans to consider their futures.Over the past five years, my life has presented me with one obstacle after another. Starting with COVID 19, the lock-down, having multiple episodes of the affliction, the subsequent shutting down of my business and income, my son, a US Marine, having three brain surgeries caused by something he picked up in the Iraqi war, my fourth back surgery, the constant threat of losing my vision, and … all the niggling aches and pains associated with age.
And while things have improved for me on a personal level, there’s still a dark cloud over the hostile political climate we are all living under. How will I keep my sanity when the world is crazed and money is tight without burying my head in the sand?
We’re all stressed, no doubt. Aggravations persist. Threats multiply. Our future looks bleak. So, what will you do to make your life comfortably livable? (And I don’t mean comfortably numb.) I plan to engage my stiff upper lip and live my life with optimism in the wide open.
I’ve decided to compartmentalize politics as it stands today rather than let its poison eat away at me every waking hour. I intend to live my life to the fullest, and I hope you do too. But to do that, it’s important to think about the path we will take during the foreseeable future.
I plan to continue resisting the current administration’s dictatorial meanderings by talking, writing, voting, and sharing my ideas in a manner that will rally like-minded souls. Then, I disconnect from that “compartment”. I turn off the news. I don’t discuss it at friendly gatherings, and I turn off the worry meter while I work on things that I know make my life more complete. Try it, it’s liberating.
I will not allow our administration’s fiasco to change how I live my life, and I will not let it put a shadow on my family's existence. I will use the curiosity that was given me at birth to explore whatever fascinates me at the moment. I will continue to do the work that makes me happy.
For me, I see some interesting, inexpensive, drivable travel in the coming months. I’m resuming road cycling, which I’ve done for 20 years, but has been put on the back burner for a variety of reasons. I plan to continue renovating my old house, as money allows, and prep my back yard (the Greenroom) for the coming fall and winter, a time in Florida when I can bask in the crisp, fresh air. I will continue to think, write, share my thoughts with others, and live my life to the fullest.
I feel like this is a path that gives me freedom to live, while still resisting. I have faith in the American people who understand what the United States was meant to be. We’ve never reached that dreamed-of ideal, but we’ve been moving in a mostly positive direction for 250 years. I see a united people coming together to defeat the fascists and make living comfortable for everyone.
We still have the freedom to live our lives the way we see fit, while we continue to resist.