Tiny great grandson has been my pandemic entertainment. A recent trip to the aquarium was an eye-opener. Sometimes seeing the world through the eyes of three year old is a good way to get a new perspective. Pure joy at observing FISHIES and sharks and giant turtles!
Steven, that trip sounds so exciting. I absolutely love an adventure. I am looking forward to your shares about the perspective of other cultures.
Yesterday, I was finishing a list .. clean bedding, clean and re-fill hummingbird feeders, pull down items from on top of the cupboards to clean, take my walk, call sister-in-law, vacuum. The list was longer on Monday, which included paint, write, read, hair appt. go see Ramona (my 91 year old friend in the nursing home) and more things I remind myself to go buy etc. I watched a few hours of Morning Joe (Adam Kinsinger was on .. he was great!) then the TV went off. On my walk I listen to music. In the car I listen to JOY which is a Christian music station or PBS.
I’m 63, retired and no grand children yet. All of the things that encompass my day inform me, give me health and exercise, joy and gratefulness as well as a sense of accomplishment; so I rarely get burn out. But, I cry. I cried when Mika Brzezinski cried and the night before when Stephanie Ruhle cried. Last Monday I was laying in my hammock staring up into the circle of sky and it’s spiritual sometimes. Anyway, I felt emotion about everything in the world and it wasn’t even specific, but I wept. My mind, body and soul was releasing the anguish and my personal frustration. On Wednesday I put on my red hat (I am a red hat lady) and went to a luncheon with 11 others. I sat across from a wonderful lady whom I blocked on Facebook in 2016, because of her toxic venom at Hillary. I called her later and told her I did it, and was sorry, I regretted it, but it saved our friendship. The point? I said I wanted to see the new ‘Maverick’ movie and she said she wanted to watch 2000, and proceeded to go on to a few others of what that was about, and how those votes were stolen and harvested and I sat there silent, until the topic changed. My GOD, I doubt she will watch the J-6 hearings because she thinks all stations are liberal left leaning and George Soros yada yada. I just shook my head, and here 6 years later, we are friends, but I truly made the best decision when I put a block on her interactions through social media.
I have a confession. My twitter feed does not hold back and that’s fine! If someone like her (again we are friendly at the luncheons) found my twitter account, she would probably have a stroke. I lash out at GOP Senate openly for their duplicitous, devious deeds, which I have posted links about who takes money from NRA. This particular lady I’m referring to is like Annie Oakley. She and her husband are avid gun owners! Go figure.
I know what I know from reading. Almost everyday I make time to read. Did anyone out there read PERIL, by Woodward and Costa? MIDNIGHT IN WASHINGTON is next!
I truly do worry about our societal malaise toward the fact that guns are the number 1 cause of death to children. You would think we could collectively surmise that allowing 18 year olds to openly purchase and carry without permits (at least 5 states allow it) was not the right direction, but here we are. Within a week, people will tune it out and begin screaming about Joe Biden causing inflation around the globe.
I haven’t commented a lot lately, but I do read your writings. Today, I’ll mark a few more things off my list.. but for now, it’s 7:45 in Missouri and I need coffee. God bless to all who follow Steven. You are heading in the right direction. Read PERIL!
Not exhaustion as much as anger @ 2 more wks of carnage & GOP in your face holier than thou attitude re even basic gun control measures. Want an assault weapons ban brought back. Do not belong anywhere but military & SWAT teams. Please have a great safe trip & come back rejuvenated.
"the constant drumbeat of bad news, driven by the feverous pitch of bad actors bent on burning down our house" is certainly one massive and major crisis. Its twin crisis, though, is the empty lackadaisical response (or non-response) from those we elected to support and protect and lead forward this country and its people. The two crises combined are so debilitating.
Thank you for your great work Steven, and I hope your travels will be refreshing and restorative!
I'm happily retired, 8 years; and I feel your same sense of burnout. Burnout from the news, which I try to watch less and less of. Your daily forum has given me a great outlet to get my thoughts out of my head and onto the screen, in a place where I know my thoughts will be understood and appreciated. I am actually going on my first vacation since 2019 at the beginning of July. To the Berkshires, my happy place. I am counting the days, and expecting that 4 days days at Tanglewood, a day at The Clark, lunch at The Red Lion Inn and some time sitting on their porch, will rejuvenate me.
Yeah, the Uvalde massacre of little children has pushed me to the edge of my ability to tolerate the extreme depravity of today’s republican party. I don’t know how many times I’ve started to cry since that day. But you know what? The ultimate responsibility lies at the feet of Mitch McConnell and all of the wealthy people and corporations who’ve made the republican party what it is today with their money.
I’m not a person who’s into blame. Most of the time blaming is counterproductive. I’m more of a ‘let’s figure out how this happened,
why it happened and fix things so it can’t happen again person.’ But this is different.
I want to blame the people responsible for Uvalde as well as all the other gun massacres. Personally, I think the republican party is filled with sociopaths, and even worse, it’s by design, not by accident.
I think powerful, rich libertarian/republicans deliberately backed candidates who demonstrated an ability to lie with impunity, who are very greedy and who are so self-absorbed events that don’t directly involve them & have nothing to do with money are ignored. It took a few decades for them to get rid of party members who were principled and ethical, but they were patient.
They recruited people with the above described characteristics because they knew that in order to implement their four decades old strategy to destroy our democracy, that’s what it would take. It would take the kind of people who have no conscience, who are unmoved by the mass slaughter of innocent children, who are totally unconcerned about the welfare of anyone but themselves.
The republican party is filled with domestic terrorists. That they have the nerve to even try to talk us out of being horrified & outraged with the idiocy of arming teachers is mind boggling. There was an security guard with a gun in the grocery store massacre in Buffalo. He probably slowed the murderer down, but come on! Are we supposed to arm ourselves
for a trip to the grocery store? Or perhaps hire a bodyguard before going for a walk around the block? The gop’s absolute refusal to vote for any level of gun control is insane.
It demonstrates how much they value human life, which is not at all, and which makes it impossible to to take the republican stance on abortion seriously.
The title of your article made start singing a different song then what you mentioned. I thought of Talking Heads "Burning Down the House." I am afraid that I am feeling some symptoms of burnout for my job. But I keep in mind that we sometimes have to go through some rough times to get to the good times.
I really enjoy your commentary on the state of things. And eagerly await your return. But, you certainly deserve time to take some shelter from the storms. Safe Travels.
I can wholly appreciate this post, and I understand you're preparing for your travels. That said, I was really in need of a post from you about Uvalde, even if it was similar to what you've said in the past. We need to hear from leaders like you during these times, Steven, because god knows we're not getting it other places. Thank you for all of your insightful posts!
Tiny great grandson has been my pandemic entertainment. A recent trip to the aquarium was an eye-opener. Sometimes seeing the world through the eyes of three year old is a good way to get a new perspective. Pure joy at observing FISHIES and sharks and giant turtles!
Steven, that trip sounds so exciting. I absolutely love an adventure. I am looking forward to your shares about the perspective of other cultures.
Yesterday, I was finishing a list .. clean bedding, clean and re-fill hummingbird feeders, pull down items from on top of the cupboards to clean, take my walk, call sister-in-law, vacuum. The list was longer on Monday, which included paint, write, read, hair appt. go see Ramona (my 91 year old friend in the nursing home) and more things I remind myself to go buy etc. I watched a few hours of Morning Joe (Adam Kinsinger was on .. he was great!) then the TV went off. On my walk I listen to music. In the car I listen to JOY which is a Christian music station or PBS.
I’m 63, retired and no grand children yet. All of the things that encompass my day inform me, give me health and exercise, joy and gratefulness as well as a sense of accomplishment; so I rarely get burn out. But, I cry. I cried when Mika Brzezinski cried and the night before when Stephanie Ruhle cried. Last Monday I was laying in my hammock staring up into the circle of sky and it’s spiritual sometimes. Anyway, I felt emotion about everything in the world and it wasn’t even specific, but I wept. My mind, body and soul was releasing the anguish and my personal frustration. On Wednesday I put on my red hat (I am a red hat lady) and went to a luncheon with 11 others. I sat across from a wonderful lady whom I blocked on Facebook in 2016, because of her toxic venom at Hillary. I called her later and told her I did it, and was sorry, I regretted it, but it saved our friendship. The point? I said I wanted to see the new ‘Maverick’ movie and she said she wanted to watch 2000, and proceeded to go on to a few others of what that was about, and how those votes were stolen and harvested and I sat there silent, until the topic changed. My GOD, I doubt she will watch the J-6 hearings because she thinks all stations are liberal left leaning and George Soros yada yada. I just shook my head, and here 6 years later, we are friends, but I truly made the best decision when I put a block on her interactions through social media.
I have a confession. My twitter feed does not hold back and that’s fine! If someone like her (again we are friendly at the luncheons) found my twitter account, she would probably have a stroke. I lash out at GOP Senate openly for their duplicitous, devious deeds, which I have posted links about who takes money from NRA. This particular lady I’m referring to is like Annie Oakley. She and her husband are avid gun owners! Go figure.
I know what I know from reading. Almost everyday I make time to read. Did anyone out there read PERIL, by Woodward and Costa? MIDNIGHT IN WASHINGTON is next!
I truly do worry about our societal malaise toward the fact that guns are the number 1 cause of death to children. You would think we could collectively surmise that allowing 18 year olds to openly purchase and carry without permits (at least 5 states allow it) was not the right direction, but here we are. Within a week, people will tune it out and begin screaming about Joe Biden causing inflation around the globe.
I haven’t commented a lot lately, but I do read your writings. Today, I’ll mark a few more things off my list.. but for now, it’s 7:45 in Missouri and I need coffee. God bless to all who follow Steven. You are heading in the right direction. Read PERIL!
Not exhaustion as much as anger @ 2 more wks of carnage & GOP in your face holier than thou attitude re even basic gun control measures. Want an assault weapons ban brought back. Do not belong anywhere but military & SWAT teams. Please have a great safe trip & come back rejuvenated.
"the constant drumbeat of bad news, driven by the feverous pitch of bad actors bent on burning down our house" is certainly one massive and major crisis. Its twin crisis, though, is the empty lackadaisical response (or non-response) from those we elected to support and protect and lead forward this country and its people. The two crises combined are so debilitating.
Thank you for your great work Steven, and I hope your travels will be refreshing and restorative!
Enjoy your time away and come back refreshed. We need you!
We took a similar trip in March, and it was just the right thing for us. Bon voyage!
I'm happily retired, 8 years; and I feel your same sense of burnout. Burnout from the news, which I try to watch less and less of. Your daily forum has given me a great outlet to get my thoughts out of my head and onto the screen, in a place where I know my thoughts will be understood and appreciated. I am actually going on my first vacation since 2019 at the beginning of July. To the Berkshires, my happy place. I am counting the days, and expecting that 4 days days at Tanglewood, a day at The Clark, lunch at The Red Lion Inn and some time sitting on their porch, will rejuvenate me.
Yeah, the Uvalde massacre of little children has pushed me to the edge of my ability to tolerate the extreme depravity of today’s republican party. I don’t know how many times I’ve started to cry since that day. But you know what? The ultimate responsibility lies at the feet of Mitch McConnell and all of the wealthy people and corporations who’ve made the republican party what it is today with their money.
I’m not a person who’s into blame. Most of the time blaming is counterproductive. I’m more of a ‘let’s figure out how this happened,
why it happened and fix things so it can’t happen again person.’ But this is different.
I want to blame the people responsible for Uvalde as well as all the other gun massacres. Personally, I think the republican party is filled with sociopaths, and even worse, it’s by design, not by accident.
I think powerful, rich libertarian/republicans deliberately backed candidates who demonstrated an ability to lie with impunity, who are very greedy and who are so self-absorbed events that don’t directly involve them & have nothing to do with money are ignored. It took a few decades for them to get rid of party members who were principled and ethical, but they were patient.
They recruited people with the above described characteristics because they knew that in order to implement their four decades old strategy to destroy our democracy, that’s what it would take. It would take the kind of people who have no conscience, who are unmoved by the mass slaughter of innocent children, who are totally unconcerned about the welfare of anyone but themselves.
The republican party is filled with domestic terrorists. That they have the nerve to even try to talk us out of being horrified & outraged with the idiocy of arming teachers is mind boggling. There was an security guard with a gun in the grocery store massacre in Buffalo. He probably slowed the murderer down, but come on! Are we supposed to arm ourselves
for a trip to the grocery store? Or perhaps hire a bodyguard before going for a walk around the block? The gop’s absolute refusal to vote for any level of gun control is insane.
It demonstrates how much they value human life, which is not at all, and which makes it impossible to to take the republican stance on abortion seriously.
Have an amazing, restful trip and come back to us rejuvenated and refreshed (and with hints for us on how to do it). We need you.
Excellent!! Your timing impeccable. I don't feel as alone. I need to step back.
The title of your article made start singing a different song then what you mentioned. I thought of Talking Heads "Burning Down the House." I am afraid that I am feeling some symptoms of burnout for my job. But I keep in mind that we sometimes have to go through some rough times to get to the good times.
Hope your trip is safe and a good time for you.
I really enjoy your commentary on the state of things. And eagerly await your return. But, you certainly deserve time to take some shelter from the storms. Safe Travels.
Marseilles. Cannes. Antibes. Neice. Menton Monte Carlo. And Le George Cinq.
I am burnt out. The shootings. CNN saying big red wave coming on Google. Covid rampant where I live.
I’m due for a long lazy road trip…
I can wholly appreciate this post, and I understand you're preparing for your travels. That said, I was really in need of a post from you about Uvalde, even if it was similar to what you've said in the past. We need to hear from leaders like you during these times, Steven, because god knows we're not getting it other places. Thank you for all of your insightful posts!