Coping Mechanisms for a Divided World
A gentle breeze caresses my arm as I reach for a cherry tomato. Gathering our summer harvest puts me into an altered state. It’s just me and the smell of the tomato plants and lavender. The chirps of birds and crickets are all I hear until a driver at the corner street intersection honks his horn. The reverie broken, my eyes rest on a vine winding its way up several stems of lavender. The weeds are creeping into the garden again. I’ll need gloves and a trowel. Tomorrow. Maybe I’ll weed early tomorrow.
The small things, such as discovering a squash plant at the edge of our lot with two golden blooms, is a needed distraction from politics and world news. This squash plant got its start when soil from the composting pit was spread on the nearby bushes. An unexpected bonus, in another few weeks they’ll be more to harvest.
Meanwhile, I read and listen to a half a dozen or more news sources and learn the ice caps are melting at an accelerated rate and the majority of human don’t have room in their hearts and minds to care, because too many people are dying in multiple wars and the price of gasoline and food keeps rising. In the United States, as many as one third of voters believe that the 2020 Presidential race was actually won by the former president. Although there is absolutely no evidence to support their belief, votes having been checked and counted multiple times and no successful court challenges, their response is that the entire system is rigged and corrupt. They’ve stopped listening to any media sources except for Fox News, convinced that journalists are intentionally delivering “fake news.”
I myself had serious doubts as to whether the 2016 election was a legitimate loss for Hilary Clinton. The reports of the Russians seeking to infiltrate social media accounts, individual candidate’s organizations, as well as vote counting software had me deeply concerned. But that’s in the past. Because I believe in the democratic system, when the winner was declared I accepted the results.
One third of Americans are evidently so enamored with the man with the orange hair, they can’t see him for what he is — a sociopath who cares only about himself. We are on the verge of having our democracy replaced by an autocracy if all the “2020 Election Deniers” currently on the November ballot are voted into office. Their platforms basically promise their supporters, We plan to work to reinstate the previous administration and if we don’t like the result of an election, the wrong people were allowed to vote.
The recent hoopla about the FBI search of Mar a Lago, like all things connected to the previous administration, has been reframed as a witch hunt against a beleaguered noble leader. But regardless of whether you are a conservative or a liberal, presidential documents belong to the American People. They are not souvenirs to be kept by former presidents, they are historical papers that tell the story of each administration. Maintained by the National Archives, they are meant to be preserved for All Americans.
A clear record of court documents show that every attempt was made to retrieve missing documents (many classified) prior to going to a judge and requesting a search warrant.
Too intentionally rail against government agencies such as the Justice Department, and the FBI and to endanger the lives of FBI agents and their families is unconscionable. Is that the kind of individual we want to lead our nation?
The thought that so many people think it’s quite okay to elect a selfish bully to the highest office in our land has me reaching for my gardening gloves. Maybe I won’t put off pulling out those weeds.
Thank you for reading. Follow me on Twitter at SN Maril. Here’s a link to another joyful distraction, written for Random Sample Review, The Simple Joys of Baking Cake.
Published by Nadja Maril
Nadja Maril is a communications professional who has over 10 years experience as a magazine editor. A writer and journalist, Maril is the author of several books including: “American Lighting 1840–1940”, “Antique Lamp Buyer’s Guide”, “Me, Molly Midnight; the Artist’s Cat”, and “Runaway, Molly Midnight; the Artist’s Cat”. Her short stories and essays have been published in several small online journals including Lunch Ticket, Change Seven, Scarlet Leaf Review and Defunkt Magazine. She has an MFA in creative writing from Stonecoast at the University of Southern Maine. Former Editor-in-Chief of What’s Up ? Publishing, former Editor of Chesapeake Taste Magazine a regional lifestyle magazine based in Annapolis, and former Lighting Editor of Victorian Homes Magazine, Maril has written hundreds of newspaper and magazines articles on a variety of subjects.. View more posts
Originally published at http://nadjamaril.com on August 22, 2022.
