Ok, here it is almost the middle of March and I need to rant a bit because it’s freezing in here. You can’t tell me climate change isn’t happening. I live in the Pacific Northwest, where typically, it’s mellow all year long. Sure it rains, but this year that moisture is coming down in the form of snow. I really don’t like it. I spent an hour and a half on the phone with my daughter yesterday as she was driving through a blizzard and was terrified. God, that’s a nerve-racking process. Thankfully, she got home safely with no incidents, but we were both exhausted.
Here’s another thing that gets me. My home is only about 1200 sq. ft. and I keep the thermostat set at 55 degrees. My energy bill arrived last week. $208!! I called the energy company to see if I could get on their “equalization plan”, you know, where you pay so much a month all year long. Well, not only did I opt NOT to do that, I learned that their rates go up in the winter months! Did you know that? How is that right?
And so, I’m bundled up again this morning in layers of clothes, sipping a cup of hot tea and listening to the furnace kick on far more often than I like. On the other hand, I am most grateful to have a home and a working furnace!
Ok, this subject truly deserves some ranting! It seems to me that a ton of crappy, just downright bad behavior gets rewarded with big bucks these days, especially in the political arena. I heard yesterday on the news that the impeached Illinois governor, Blago, has been offered 6 figures to write a tell-all book about the corruption in politics. Ah, hello? He’s caught on tape, using foul language repeatedly, suggesting he was interested in selling Obama’s senate seat, then for what seemed unending weeks we’re all subjected to his shiny face and manicured hair on every possible news show proclaiming his innocence. Hmmm…what comes to my mind is that you can’t really write about a subject you don’t know about. I grasp that simply knowing something doesn’t mean you’ve participated in the corruption yourself, but…when I hear those tapes, well…….I draw a certain conclusion, that bad behavior gets rewarded! What do you think?
I no longer believe in organized religions at all! I realize many who read this rant won’t agree with me, but that’s ok. We all have to decide for ourselves what path forward serves us best, and religions do fill some needs. However, for me now, I think they are nothing more than business organizations, full of hypocricy, hungry for money, power and control, and most, if not all, are downright dangerous! They allow people to stop thinking for themselves. In some ways, maybe I’m just the tiniest bit envious of those who can give up thinking for themselves, but nah……not really.
Today it is so easy to rant about this subject because I think it’s absolutely tragic how humans feel so free to manipulate nature! Today there is the extremely sad case of the chimpanzee who attacked some poor woman and tried to detach her face. Birds aren’t meant to NOT fly, and chimpanzees are not meant to live in houses under the pretense they are humans.
It’s good everyone in Washington feels this “sense of urgency” to fix our economy! Oh, wait…..not everyone. Apparently only the Dems do! Honestly, most of the Repukelicans make me want to do just that, what with all their vitriolic rhetoric….spewing garbage, lies, distortions. I don’t think they want this “stimulus package” to succeed at all. That way, in 2010, they can holler “SEE….we told you so!”. It’s all about saving their shiny asses in 2010, not about doing the bipartisan thing or actually reaching out in any way to those they oppose. They truly do make me want to vomit! Well, most of them do anyway.
Today’s Rant: Delusional or Not?
So in this rant I admit I am, in some ways, totally delusional. Perhaps we all are to a certain extent. If I weren’t delusional, I’d be either depressed or insane, or both.
Digging alittle deeper, however, I’m wondering what the difference is between a delusion and a belief. The dictionary says a delusion is a false belief. Well, if you think about it, that makes little sense. If I hold a belief, then isn’t it true for me? Who decides the “false” part? If I believe I can’t accomplish something, I’m right. I can’t. The wonderful little book “Illusions” by Richard Bach says it this way: “Argue for your limitations and sure enough, they’re yours.”
So perhaps being somewhat delusional is ok, a survival tactic of sorts.