Farewell, America

As I pack my bags to fly off for the winter, I can't seem to get out of Dodge soon enough. Asta la vista, 2016 - good riddance!

You've been a true pill of a year and I am eager to purge you out of my system for good.

I am one with Neal Gabler, who writes - [read his full article here]

Whatever place we now live in is not the same place it was on Nov. 7. No matter how the rest of the world looked at us on Nov. 7, they will now look at us differently. We are likely to be a pariah country.

The sun sets behind the Jefferson Memorial in Washington. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

And we are lost for it. As I surveyed the ruin of that country this gray Wednesday morning, I found weary consolation in W.H. Auden’s poem, September 1, 1939, which concludes:

“Defenseless under the night

Our world in stupor lies;

Yet, dotted everywhere,

Ironic points of light

Flash out wherever the Just

Exchange their messages:

May I, composed like them

Of Eros and of dust,

Beleaguered by the same

Negation and despair,

Show an affirming flame.”

We all now hunt for that affirming flame.

let's get ourselves into some good trouble

Today is Thanksgiving Day and this is the prayer I offer up for us all.

"With due respect for the colored ribbons we’ve worn for various solidarities, our next step is to wear something on our sleeve that takes actual courage: our hearts." ~ Barbara Kingsolver 

Barbara Kingsolver is an American novelist, essayist and poet - a woman of substance who I have admired and followed for decades.

healing heartache

As I watch President Barrack Obama's tearful thank you to his campaign staff I listen to Leonard Cohen's gravely voice, hoping to heal my grief and heartache.

I turn to Cohen's Buddhism, the Path of Enlightenment through the understanding of human suffering, to lift my spirit and soothe my soul.

The Buddha is a tremendous help right now, with supportive advice for working through my debilitating devastated emotions.

Body, mind, and heart are running amok, at war with each other, and each tearing itself apart.