Cons

These are wild times.  Some days, it feels like riding on the back of a rodeo horse that is bucking with abandon. This morning, the air is a little warmer - at 44 degrees faranheit.  The skies are clear, no rain forecast for this cycle.  But there seems to be more on the horizon.  It is a day that is wide open in terms of planned activities.  It's a good time to reflect.  David Crosby died yesterday and a friend sent a message that he Rest in Peace.  Added to the note - the lyrics to "Teach Your Children" - it begins with an invitation:  "You, who are on the road, must have a code that you can live by.  And so, become yourself, because the past is just a goodbye..."

It feels like a lot of goodbyes are happening - a generation of artists, politicians, family members, and teachers who embodied a different set of values are disappearing.  Of course, this is the natural progression of things and, it feels a little chaotic.  This is because when the media covers stories about how humanity is doing, it is rare to find a day when there is no news about a liar, a cheater, a con.

The word "con" or "cons" can be a verb or a noun.  One can be a con - a person who engages in fakery of the kind that might be insignificant or very harmful.   And one can con others, motivated by a desire to mislead others and create certain outcomes that are mostly self-centered (think:  George Santos for both).  It is a word that comes up frequently these days, as desperate moves are being made at both the individual and societal levels.  

These are times in which one might really have to accept that life is filled with deception and making choices has become far more complicated.  It seems that engaging in critical thinking is disappearing.  Convenience is sought at every turn - it is more convenient to have others give the answers to questions that life poses than to think deeply about the implications of a personal decision.  It is just easier to choose from a menu of pre-determined options than to clear the way and create ones own set of choices.  Today, choices are made by pushing a button or swiping a screen (think:  paying bills, buying groceries, even meeting new people who may become friends or partners, as examples).  Actual engagement with other human beings used to be required.  Not anymore.  One can feel fully engaged in life, and never leave home base, whether that is in a structure or out on the street.  Today's essential for daily living has shifted to a new necessity: access to electricity and the internet.  

It feels like the galloping toward a reality built on non-reality is where things are today.  Those who are on the ground, seeing the effect in these times are organizing for safety, for access to affordable housing, for access to treatments for physical and mental health needs - all of which could be available, if only one can understand the con that is happening;  and if one doesn't allow themselves to be conned.