I’ve got BWB….
…blog writers’ block. It seems my trouble with writing of late comes down to one thing – I’d rather be happy than right. I’m in the throws of committing what seems to be the central sin of a political blogger. I’d rather be happy than right – and spending a lot of time culling the news for topics to react to seems like an exercise in creating unhappiness.
At present I’m tired of complaining about this politician or that scallywag. Even in the best of posts the core is always complaint. Is this a bad thing? No. The conversation, the argument, the blow back is important. Very important. Thank God so many pointed out the sexism in 2008. We’ll not go back there again in the same way ever. Loud voices changed the conversation.
I’m convinced now of one thing. The game is rigged completely. Worse, most people – in fact nearly everyone – have a dog in the hunt. Mine was the fun of writing every night, usually to point out who was wrong and why. It isn’t fun anymore and it’s not helpful on a personal level.
But for now I’d rather be happy than right. Life is good, but one must pay attention to notice. I have not been for too long.
I love the regulars around here, the community that’s grown. I mean love, too. I feel close to many of you.
Will I keep writing? Almost certainly. Topics pop up everyday I engage for a moment. Then they quickly feel far less important. I love the radio shows. Love doing them. Love the conversation. For the moment I’d rather be happy than right…
Glad to hear you want to focus on what makes you happy, John. I hope you will still find something to get pissed enough to opine about now and then. I suspect you will.
I love this, (and your writing, whatever it may be about)…but I get this and I love it.
FABULOUS! Looking forward to hearing about what makes you happy? How do we get happy? What the heck IS happiness any way and how do we set our mind so that negativity is a foreigner and we focus on that which is inspiring and positive? SO glad for this post, John1 You go!
good question Ellen. My husband is a semi working artist, he is fortunate because he feels compelled to create almost daily, and he is never sad, mad, or discouraged. Creativity is such a gift, even for those of us who simply hang out around it.
What I’ve learned for the most part about writing is that once it’s “work” it’s harder to do, because it’s always work even when you love it.
I empathize in feeling somewhat cold about the political turn of events over the past few months, and agree that the game is most certainly rigged. Speculating is still fun, but the reality that is becoming more and more clear to me is that this system cannot be fixed and is not ultimately sustainable. When the big apparatus and oligarchy ultimately fails, I wonder if we will go back to more agrarian and state/local government similar to pre-World War I and how we will adjust to that.
John, write what you love. If your heart is in it I know there will be discussion around it.
Agreed, Dan. I think of my family’s now-ruined farm in Ireland, how by the mid-80s, nobody cared about keeping a place going where running water had not been installed until a generation ago. We descendents all lack the ability to fend for ourselves, having scattered to Britain, Dublin, or America. Yet the “economic downturn” did not steer us away towards sustainability, for the system demands our debt and our subservience. A few out there via this blog, I know, are able to live closer to the land, but for those of us tethered to cities or sprawling suburbs or exurbs (second homes aside for a lucky few), it feels more and more like a sentence to hard labor rather than a respite from the toil which my family refused to accept, and which they traded for factories and now cubicles. I’m no romanticist, and I got my feet plenty mucked in tracking down the old farmstead, but our dependence on plastic, the long haul in the little car, or the networked drip-feed wears my spirit down. Nobody in charge cares much–even Jerry Brown’s capitulating on Cal’s environmental protections now so as to please his “energy provider” cronies.
JWS, look around as you do. Plenty to keep you and us writing when we’re not working!
Thanks for all the lovely comments. I’ve come to realize the truth of the statement “a man becomes what he thinks about all day” and come what may I simply cannot keep thinking about how bad everything..is according to some…when I sit down to write. It’s limiting and the results are not fun.
Ding Ding Ding!!!! That’s the money quote.
Upon that same realization, I became disengaged from politics (save for the odd Obot bashing here and there), and was surprised to see how much quality time I had been missing. Turns out I have a pretty cool life when not bogged down by taking our elected officials seriously.
I’m looking forward to reading what you will be writing – and also tuning in to listen to your show!
John, your political insights and instincts are second to none. And, I adore your sense of humor. I’ll always check in here, as I’ve done since ’08. Focus on what makes you happy now. I’m confident you’ll be back, full force in 2015/16, especially if Hillary runs again (as I strongly suspect she will). In the interim, I’ll see you on Twitter and tune in, periodically to your radio show.
Over the past few months, I myself have let a dozen potential posts well up inside my head, even make it to rough drafts, then let them pass. Like all of you, I expended a lot of emotional energy, and took on a lot of agida, during the recent election season. I also made considerable efforts to raise the alarm to my friends and family. Nearly all of them remained deaf. I am spent.
I believe we are on the cusp of tyranny, which will require not just words, but action, to avoid. Unfortunately, things will have to deteriorate further before others begin to realize that. And frankly, I don’t have the “bandwidth” to participate in a revolution at this time. I have ranch projects to complete and a new business model to craft. I’m thinking about starting a blog on cooking.
Ellen is correct in urging us to not fixate on the several problems with our society, but rather to seek out the fundamental flaws & ills that are the source of those problems. I’d look forward to an exchange of ideas on that key question.
I’ve enjoyed some of the recent discussions we’ve had here on social & cultural topics. I appreciated the response & interest you showed to my nativity post. I’d like to write on more of these subjects, either here or at another suitable venue. I won’t ignore politics completely, and will keep TLN up for when I have something to say on that. But I’m tired of doing the color commentary for the political Games, because the Games are evil and must be stopped.
I’m not defeated, nor permanently silenced. I’m just recuperating.
Tamerlane, I do feel that the fundamental cause of our collective distress is a lack of accepting that we are all one, all connected and what you do to me and I do to you has an effect on all of us. We are responsible for the reality we create. We perceive what we perceive and must dos o with a collective eye on what is for the greatest good. Parents need to be parents, not friends. Friends need to be friends – mutual reciprocal relating to one another in a well boundaried manner. The “Hurray for me and the heck with you!” culture we have collectively created must end. we are ill and can become healthy with one another’s help. Focusing on the negative creates more negativity! Love is a verb – let us look into what love truly is and how we are using love in our lives on all levels and all forms.
One out of five children in the U.S. are hungry. How can we create good education for these hungry kids when they are in pain and are thinking about when they are going to eat, not hwo they might become the one who invents a cure for cancer.
Let us celebrate our differences and come together in a healthy fashion and create the change in our own lives that we want to see globally.
Just some thoughts.
Tamerlane, I continue to learn from you and many here. I’d like to discuss religious and cultural themes more, as you and JWS have begun to do more post-election. I agree that with the rigged game, it’s tiring to keep bashing away at the deaf, dumb, and blind on both sides of the system, Yet, we can still meet and chat and explore other themes which intrigue us, and we can use this forum wisely.
Right on! We can hold The Salon at the End of the Universe.
Yes, a salon! And, catered with Tamer’s cooking.
Tamer, what kind of dishes do your culinary skills encompass?
Mediterranean mostly — provençal, Italian, North African & Levant, Greek.
Yum. Definitely signing up for the Salon.
What a wonderful relief these comments are to me. You’ve no idea. Battering at the smug who will not become un-smug is exhausting and pointless after a while. That said, there is much to be in wonder and awe about…while keeping an ear to the ground of current events….Like for example the stunning multi part doco on netflix called “the story of film” – hard, real, wonderful. Did you know a few women directors dominated early Hollywood – pre 1920s. ? I did not. Some amazing innovations came from women.
and lordy, TL, I’d read your cooking blog with keen interest. Do it.
The upshot is I liked who I was while writing a politics nightly for a very long time. Then this time last year I realized i didn’t any more and started dismissing my gut – never a good idea…This opened the door for discomfort which i ignored because the year was absorbed by an election. I kept pretending I loved a game I was truly bored with.
Yesterday at a party with my extended Democratic family my uncle’s hubby asked me point blank who i voted for – breaking an unspoken truce – as other than a radical cousin everyone else was firmly Obama. I know every one THOUGHT I voted for Romney as Obama voters are often like that..if you don’t adore Obama you must be GOP…. when I said Johnson I got the RCA dog head cock. And went on to exclaim “Romney is an odd douche of a man.” Which, truth be told, is what I thought all of 2012. My distress and annoyance with the choice was far deeper than I admitted.
It’s weird…I really do not care about Obama and have not for a while. I get him and he’s boring..a cog in a long process. It will be fun to watch him flail after the next few months…but not that fun.
I agree that we are “close to tyranny” but I also don’t think it will happen out in the open. We are not built that way… anarchy could happen.,,tyranny, no. We ain’t Russia. We’ll splinter before we cave.
Anywho, thems my random thoughts right now.
good to see you finally own your choice. your self importance is overflowing. you know smug
John, you normally delete the comments of this coward, but don’t. They are a helpful reminder as to the kind of sad, self-loathing worm who joins brownshirt movements like OFA. The tyranny will not be ushered in by sadistic monsters, rather by resentful, sniveling shits like this one.
Oh. My. God.
Another Obot that doesn’t even have the balls to use its name.
Anon…was that Really necessary ?
Anon…what “choice” ? When have I not owned my choices around here? And why is it only “anonymous” misreads honesty for self importance.
A little more soul baring might be appropriate here..Prior to the election, I was hospitalized twice with dangerously high blood pressure, each time, for a couple of days.
It was a big wake up call.
When we are not one with ourselves, our bodies will kick us in the pants every time..I was focused on the rigged system, and what I saw as the ruination of our country, to the point it was making me ill, not to mention, gloomy..
Without going full blown Oprah-ish, I have found it helpful to make a list of a few things I’m grateful for, as a meditation before I fall asleep.
Sometimes the best I can do is be thankful the dog isn’t snoring, and I can’t hear the toilet running,..but that’s the point, so many tiny blessings come our way every day, we take them for granted. Instead of stressing over the big picture, I’m encouraged to find a seashell or two around the edges, even a clam shell is one of Natures little miracles. My granddaughter and I saw a bright orange moon hanging over the horizon the other night, for once, we were both silent.
Good grief, connor, take care of yourself. Politics is ultimately an unsatisfying mistress. And, as I’ve said before, you should cut down on the right-wing media and social media material. I think Fox, Weasel Zippers, Rush, Breitbart, and the like, are all calculated to drive up one’s blood pressure. I do think the MSM is biased — pro-O and left-leaning — but the right-wing media is a cure worse than the disease. Stay well and focused on the REAL.
That’s quite buddhish, Soph. Glad you were able to re-focus on what’s really important in life.
Hi NES…Thanks for the sentiments, I watch only Larry Kudlow, and neither of the extremes. I think the extremes on both sides are poisonous, or a least, nutty.. I don’t Tweet, have never been on facebook, I don’t even have an I phone.. I am so last Century..
I left my cell phone (very last century model) at home yesterday and for the first time I realized that I couldn’t call work when the commuter train ran late. Work survived for the few minutes I was out of communication range. I may leave it home more often. And my kids will have to call me at work instead of the dreadful texting they insist upon.
Stay well.
Only yesterday I had a “conversation” with my sister(who is still unhappy with my choices r/t the 2012 election) about how I no longer read or discuss politics as I did for all the reasons that were enumerated here today. I’m more interested in remodeling my kitchen before I have to retire and sell my place to move into assisted living. A rebuilt kitchen in my 1902 home will provide me with some enjoyment as I get to design and work on something that I can create and have some control over. And I will no longer feel as if I were going into a cave to prepare a meal. Cooking has become a chore and being in the kitchen has become a dismal event. I started working on the plans a couple of weeks ago and am already happier. I still have to work every day but my time at home is more productive and my spirit is becoming restored.
Tamer, I’d love to read a cooking blog when I finally have a kitchen space that doesn’t make me want to jump off the roof. John, I’m with everyone else here who support you in your desire for happier time and happier writing.
connor, please don’t push yourself. I’m so sorry to hear of your health problems.
Anonymous, It’s too bad that you remain unhappy and distrustful. I guess winning isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Yeah! I cook in a kitchen I designed myself from scratch. It varies a bit from trad home kitchens, but it’s nearly perfect for accommodating my workflow and for setting up my mise.
Tamer, one of the things I enjoy about cooking is the endless variety of foods to at least, try. I’m now on the hunt for kohlrabi, but we have discovered kale recently and cactus pears. I may have to actually enter a Whole Foods market, the fact that i must drive there in a Volvo will signify that I have entirely sold out, but in a good cause, I hope.
I’ve made a rich Portuguese soup with kale. Ate a lot of kohlrabi in Germany. Instead of Whole Foods, you might have better luck with a small, local ethnic grocery.
Besides, all the proglodytes are boycotting WF because it sells GM food, and the owner is a libertarian who denies global warming. No, wait — it’s Chic-Fil-A they’re boycotting, because they never ate there in the first place.
Leslie, we remodeled a kitchen once, Once being the operative word. It was so worth it in the end, I think I became a better cook after that.
conner, I designed a kitchen in one of the houses we lived in. We were adding rooms and spaces and using an architect for the additional space. But I wanted the kitchen I wanted so I designed it myself. Initially the architect loathed the design and begged me to tell everyone she had NOTHING to do with it. After it was completed, she loved it so much that she asked for my help when she renovated her own kitchen! LOL.
And I did become better at cooking because I had the space I wanted and loved. I hope this turns out as well.
Leslie, bravo on the kitchen ! If only more people who in fact, use particular spaces, actually designed them, how different our environment would be ! {Airplane bathrooms come to mind}
Our remodel came about when we finally realized we were spending more time looking for stuff or wresting things from dangerously tilting nested groups , than we were cooking ! My husband found me crawling on the floor, trying to find a tart pan, and said ‘let’s fix the kitchen’..i agreed…
Here you go, Tamer;