Hello! I've been like most people lately, just keepin' on keepin' on. I have not been enjoying the feeling of being sort of painted into a corner in which one feels angry at some people pretty much all of the time, and sort of obligated to be so as well. So I have decided to stop. Before all this polarizing stuff started I was firmly of the belief that most people are good. I still hold that belief, no matter what side of current social divides a person lands on. I want to stop criticizing and judging others for a while. Misguided and misinformed (by one great evil or another) or not, I like to think we're all trying to do our best in a shitty time. So I have taken all my bad feelings towards other people in both hands and packed them into a big dirty snowball. I then placed said snowball of badness on the ground to melt in the sun, got on my bike and rode away. While riding, I encountered some unleashed dogs:
Remember that hokey snowball zen thing? It is not really my style to engage in such visualization stuff, but in these uncommon times I am finding some small comfort in it, so fuck it, y'know? A different but similar thing I heard on CBC radio (a national treasure, btw) has been fun too: When something makes me smile I stick my index finger in the air and say aloud "delight"! Self-help nonsense for sure, and yet it kind of works to lighten my mood. After meeting those dogs I stuck my mitten (and concealed index finger) in the air and softly proclaimed, "delight"!
So what's my point ? I don't know. But I do know there's a world of difference between a dog who has escaped his leash and a dog who doesn't require one. I am aiming to be the latter.
Yer Pal,
R A N T W I C K P.S. Foul language is also helpful in soothing my troubled soul, so take your offense and ...
