I’m not sure when I gave up on not just dissolving into tears at random moments, but it’s been a little while now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Can’t say for sure what exactly was the tipping point\u2014was it our elderly pets having crises in quick succession? (Things aren’t looking good for Rocky, our other orange tabby cat. That’s three in 7 months.) The obscene heatwave we’re in, and being keenly aware of how my generation failed to do what we should have about climate change? The state of the world? The state of the US? A Belgian expat pointed out in conversation yesterday that fascism* invariably collapses under its own weight, eventually. But there will be a lot of very sad stories until then. Or could it be the sure knowledge that my loved ones and I are\u2026well, old? And things are happening (and will happen faster and more frequently as time passes) that are both unpleasant and unavoidable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I guess it does matter what triggered this, if only for knowing how\u2014and if\u2014it’ll end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A few days ago, I read a wonderful OpEd by Anne Lamott<\/a>. It (almost magically) restored and renewed my faith, and I hope she senses just a tiny fraction of how grateful and relieved I am for that. Here are a few points (some quoted and some paraphrased) that I’m barely hanging onto:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then she adds to that last one, “And I hear what to do next.” She’s got me beat on that one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Icelanders have an expression, very nearly the national motto<\/a>: “\u00deetta reddast<\/a>.” Things will work out okay. I realize that’s completely accurate, but I wonder if I’ll be around\/survive\/hang on to my sanity\/live long enough\u2026or care\u2026when it finally does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the meantime, I’ll carry a hanky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I’m not sure when I gave up on not just dissolving into tears at random moments, but it’s been a little while now. Can’t say for sure what exactly was the tipping point\u2014was it our elderly pets having crises in quick succession? (Things aren’t looking good for Rocky, our other orange tabby cat. That’s three […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/originalorknot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1336"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/originalorknot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/originalorknot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/originalorknot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/originalorknot.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1336"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/originalorknot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1343,"href":"https:\/\/originalorknot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1336\/revisions\/1343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/originalorknot.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/originalorknot.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/originalorknot.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
*If you want to argue with me that what we’re seeing isn’t fascism, please just assume you did and this is how I responded: “Dear Sir or Madam, You may be right at that. Sincerely\u2026.<\/em>“<\/p>\n\n\n\n