WHERE HAS THE JOY GONE? (AKA: BRING BACK GRATITUDE)

ED Noor: I posted this article before reading it to the end; then I realized just how very depressing it is. How accepting it is of aging and solitude. Growing old is isolating and can be depressing for sure. For decades depression has nipped at my heels; hence the title and the first few lines of this piece called to me. Joy is damned elusive these days.

What helps to keep me sane ~ besides having Snippits and Snappits as an outlet for my dark humour and big mouth ~ is the constant expression of gratitude. Gratitude is something a most loved man taught me to cultivate when I was at my lowest; he had been raised and lived in the underbelly of the beast and knew how to survive things you and I can barely begin to imagine. He is why I know as much (or as little) as I do; he educated me by his very existence in my life and I was a keen observer.

That was before 9/11 and look at how the world has collapsed since then. His sage advice has served me well over the decades. It was he who introduced me to dark knowledge and awareness of what we face; he knew what I needed to survive what was to come before they took him from ... well anyhow, that is another story.

My daughters were raised in gratitude and it has paid great benefits; I was a very unconventional parent (surprise surprise!) naturally; both girls went out into life equipped with a lot of old school ethics, worked very hard and appreciate everything they have ~ which is so much more than I ever had in terms of financial stability and relationships.  

My natural reaction to this article is to post images and clips about gratitude and remind us all of why we are here. 

You regulars know I am far from being a Pollyanna type, hiding from the world's issues by laughing and giggling ~ ignoring the ills of the planet. Far from it. I skip the occasional posting (like today's) because of a need a few days away from the morass we are trying to not drown in. Playing with a little dolly house with a two year old, building Lego with a four, chasing bubbles and reading bedtime stories to both, brings me a sanity that I did not want to wreck last night when I got home. It happens. But you do know I tell it like it is and often in more depth than we might wish. Just finding balance makes the difference.  

I suppose grew up in privilege of sorts, although it was just everyday life for anyone back in the Golden Years of North America. Sheltered. Roman Catholic roots. If I had known then I would be in poverty as a senior I would not have believed it but here I am, just scraping by. I could be miserable or angry but instead, I am grateful for my home, the view, the fact I am in a nation that, despite its current problems, allows me to live well. No extras but enough; for that I give thanks daily. Roof. Food. Family. What more do we really need at this stage of our lives?

Of course, I speak as an older person whose life is almost spent; no longer out there spending and living so much in the frenzy of daily life. That does make quite the difference. 

We are at war. We all know this. Some cave; some fight. Soldiers get wearied ~ all of us ~ including those of us safely sitting in our homes fighting with/for the spirit and enlightenment. The sad thing is, most people do not even know the war is real; their ignorance is a major weapon we all face. Ecstasy and despair are our constant companions.

Old, but I'm not that old
Young, but I'm not that bold
And I don't think the world is sold
On just doing what we're told

I feel something so right
Doing the wrong thing
And I feel something so wrong
Doing the right thing
I couldn't lie, couldn't lie, couldn't lie

~ Counting Stars, One Republic

Life for all of us is particularly challenging at the moment; the world is effing miserable; but ultimately we are all responsible for our own most basic happiness. We must find it where we can; we must emulate that blossoming weed growing out of the pavement.   Hope and despair are equal parts of life; it is up to us which one we allow to rule our lives ~ often that is the most difficult battle of them all ~ to fight or give in.

I am fully aware of who and what is attempting to suck the life and joy from us all. It is part of the dehumanization aspect of slavery and communism; we all know this is indeed a battle for our souls and those of our children. THAT is the basic truth; they want our souls and it is up to us to defy them at EVERY POSSIBLE TURN.  Preferably with a laugh to drive them mad.

We cannot give in to despair; we must frustrate the hell out of them as we continue to grow and go on. Because this world they propose must not be allowed to happen. We must go on ~ even REMEMBERING joys, the results of freedoms long lost ~ is a service to our kind.  By now I am just rambling.... I honestly did not intend to babble on like this but... it just poured out.

So here is the piece. Just read it and keep in mind my suggestions please. They are there for you to accept, reject, just nod. KEEP LOOKING TO TASTE THAT SWEETNESS wherever you find it!

June 7, 2023

By Thomas M. Hines

The Accidental Observer 

Where has the Joy gone?

Where has life’s sweetness fled?

Why do we feel so lost or abandoned when we have so much?

Going back in time, we find examples aplenty of joy-deprived folks,

Piles and piles of grieving souls from the dawn of humanity.

Joy was brief in olden days but stretched-out sadness was common.

The privileged few at the top of life’s pyramid 

savoured pleasure of every sort,

The others down below had life but no joy.

Before the horrors of the Great Revolution over there, Marie-Antoinette, the Austrian princess, who had more than enough in every sense, said to the court:

“Let them eat cake,” or

“Qu’ils mangent de la brioche,”

about the starving Parisian masses.

Their Joy was taken by force and was never really given back by post-monarchical regimes for some time.

We should all be vigilant when politicizing our future dreams, right or left.  William Butler Yates warned us that “the centre will not hold,” that society’s core is soft under pressure from a disjointed populace.

Long after heads tumbled grotesquely at the Place de la Concorde because the people were joyless and murderous;

Like the sanguinary zealots at the birth of modern France,

Dangerous rebels fuelled by rage without a plausible cause,

A tinder-box waiting for the match to strike,

To avoid this lurking uprising, we are advised to see a shrink 

or a mood lifter or

Take another pill that has just been FDA-approved 

so Big Pharma tells us in media ads

To bring sunshine to minds lacking the right hormonal balance. 

Pundits, who say they know, offer us learned advice at every turn:

By all means, sleep better,

go outside more,

meet face to face with folks of a similar nature,

run an extra mile,

Be affable when every fibre says turn inward to seek an answer. 

At the corner store we can now buy mainline cannabis that will dull our senses: it’s only a few puffs away.

There are no super highs or lows to experience over time,

Weed or pot guarantees smooth sailing over choppy inner seas.

Only life’s middle ground or bland consciousness is there to feel.

The pain is mitigated but not resolved.  It crouches patiently somewhere within and waits for the next turmoil to raise its head.

Where has our Joy gone?

Somewhere else or maybe less far away than we think.

ED Noor: The lockdown was the toughest part of the recent covid situation. Loneliness drove millions to despair; many ended their lives. Perhaps it is my latent Catholic up-bringing but I just cannot go there at any cost. 

However, we also know, even more depressing, that this whole genocidal reduction of humanity was focused largely on seniors and other "useless eaters". Forearmed with this insight, rather than give into despair, just be damned if they are going to beat you down; push yourself hard to get as healthy as possible just to spite them. Oh, and remember to be grateful for every little uptick you feel, even if it is "only" the result of your hard work! You are not in charge of what life throws your way; you are in charge of how you respond to those challenges. Old words but so true.

Having no one to talk to is bad,

solitude is even worse.

The feeling of isolation is a disease

that lacks a pharmaceutical cure.

We can talk to the counter clerk, but not about esoteric things.  We can chat with familiar faces but not about what really matters.

We can talk with or at people but it’s pretty unusual to have them listen. There are so many who go their way but don’t stop to look around or change their fixation on immediate things.

ED Noor: The fixation with communicative devices has been unbearably destructive in social situations from big gatherings to simple one-on-one dinners. How often have I sat alone in a social situation while everyone else was checking their messages or chatted with folk elsewhere?

Age winnows our talk-buddies and that makes it hard to understand younger minds

Who talk with their thumbs in short bursts;

no lengthy analyses, please.

Characters are limited 

and things that happened way back then

are not cool.

ED Noor: Screw what is "cool". Truth does not care, neither should you.

Where has the Joy gone?  

We need it back again because it has left us out of sync and lonesome as we try to find common ground with rising, impatient generations.

Blank faces in large crowds look past us and we are not there for them; we are invisible oldies who belong elsewhere.

ED Noor: Having been a large woman most of my life, I was invisible a great deal. Nothing new to me. Am I angry? I could have been but it would have served no good purpose than strain my heart; best to just do my best to deal with the problem. Certainly I never blamed anyone else or any thing for my problem and expect society to alter its expectations just for me.

We are elders, anonymous to hostile looks but not to ourselves, bodies on legs that move in the rivers of humanity up and down the urban canyons and wonder why we feel so bad at times.

Where has our Joy gone and why can’t we get it back?

Tick, tock, time is running out for all of us 

who once saw the glass half full some time ago.

Now we are afraid because we sense those crouching, hidden forces within will come to the surface and override cannabis and pills that make us stable.

For so many the morning sunlight is a warning signal, not the promise of a blessed, God-given day. If being in meetings or filling up the hours with minor tasks or even running some more won’t right the me-ship, then we go back to zero and try again?

Joy is there, somewhere,

we just can’t find it right now.

ED Noor: Never forget that on some level you knew what you came here for; You chose these challenging times because you have a purpose to fulfill or, if fortunate, have already fulfilled. You knew. :

ED NOOR: Just work with gratitude. Acknowledge that you are NOT responsible for the fate of the world. You are NOT the jackass whisperer. You are only responsible for you and any other beings in your orbit to various degrees. 

Eventually joy will shimmer through. That does sound simplistic but the simplest solutions are often the best. If getting out into the country cannot help you find joy, then indeed you truly do need to begin cultivating thanks ... as I said, it is not easy to start but even five little things a day.... "I woke up". "The sun is shining" "I can breathe". "I hear children in the distance". "Damn I gotta walk the dog!" 

Stupid sounding? 

Perhaps. 

But keep the mood flowing and you can get pretty darn deep and this energy resonates throughout your entire essence.