Despising Wisdom...
thoughts on the 'great revealing'
The covid experience brought about ‘the great revealing’ of the world…where we were all suddenly divided into two camps.
It ripped veils in a way that nothing else ever had. No one was untouched.
Was there ever such a world-wide occurrence?
Stay with me now…I’m not talking covid, but the dividing asunder of the inner hidden person from the public personas.
We saw what lay beneath the surface of the people we had known all our lives…or thought we had known. Friends, family, co-workers and whole communities.
Might as well throw governments in there, too.
It was a crash course that re-defined our understanding of people…exposing cracks and faultlines we were not aware of. Society and relating was irrevocably changed.
It actually wasn’t such a GREAT revealing, but it brought us to levels of truth that would have otherwise remained hidden and out of reach.
It was a sudden ripping of a bandage or a violent yanking of a tooth tied to a string and attached to a doorknob. What was underneath was anyone’s guess!
For that I am grateful….
Though it hurt like literal hell to see and experience it, in the end I would rather know than not know.
In my corner of the world, I had my doubts about what was happening early on…
The distinctly un-American overreach of ‘lockdowns’, the hypnosis techniques in constant play, coupled with my NYC experience of young, ruthless, duplicitous fauci in his early HIV days made me take a harder look at what was being foisted on us.
Locally, much terror was drummed up over the first two covid cases that were reported in ominous tones.. On closer examination, I found that they were dying nursing home patients residing outside the city limits.
The local authorities and newspaper were blatantly lying to us…
Why?!
When trying to gently share those facts in an effort to quell people’s fear, there was such an insane backlash that I began to wonder who these friends, neighbors and patients of 20 years actually were.
I was suddenly barred from local forums and made a pariah! How DARE I suggest that we were not all about to DIE of covid?!
People seemed to crave the drama. They were suddenly bit players in the soap opera of the century and they were not to be deprived of their moment in the spotlight! I had to just leave them to their plot-lines…
I remember having to look up the definitions of the things they were calling me one by one! “What was that again? Could you please spell that?”
Was I suddenly in an alternate universe?
Explaining anything, ever so gently, unleashed storms of fury that I could not have imagined existed beneath their placid midwestern exteriors! People went from cherished friends to venomous enemies in 0-10 seconds!
After the initial confusion, I righted myself and tried a few other tactics…
Since they couldn’t hear me in their spiralling rage, I thought perhaps a visual or two might help…
Like walking everywhere confidently without a mask, smiling at people like a normal human.
Or smiling beguilingly and gently cracking jokes with very manly men about standing on footprints just so… “Kinda reminds you of 3rd grade, doesn’t it?” (they’d squirm and look away).
I borrowed the remark of an Amish man who was nearly tackled for walking through walmart without a mask… He’d turn around just long enough to tell his rabid pursuers that he had CS and was therefore exempt.
CS stood for Common Sense…
People wouldn’t listen to me. They’d go into a weird panic and literally cover their ears…and now they walked by me in the supermarket as though we had never met. This was especially true of the medical professionals and highly educated psychologists and the like, who had graced my massage table weekly for nigh on 2 decades!
I demonstrated sanity with my speech, my demeanor and my behavior. And I remained solidly sane throughout, dragging their epitaphs behind me like cans attached to the back of a ‘just married’ car…making a joyful racket.
At root, I have always been a bit of an amateur anthropologist, so I viewed these goings-on from that standpoint. I had changed countries, as it were…though my address remained the same (outside of communist china, the most dismal country I’ve ever visited).
I sometimes adopted the view of an old friend (before he became a frenzied vaxxed mutant) who saw the world from the stance of being ‘a new duck in a new world’ each day.
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You all have your experiences, as well…
Many bitter, exhausting, hurtful and unfair experiences.
Try as you might…try as you undoubtedly did…in every heartfelt and smart way that you could, you found there wasn’t much educating, warning or budging people out of harm’s way.
It likely wasn’t YOU that was lacking…but that you were up against a hidden and irrational force that you were never prepared for.
So here we are…
A crash course in human nature… (if you can call it that)
Does one ever get over ‘shunning’ on such a scale?
Where does it go from here?
I closed my practice a year or so earlier than planned and moved to a less oppressive state. I had also gone back to day-trading (a real anomaly) for a brief time just prior to the troubles. I’d had my next move already mapped out.
At least I’d had the internal guidance to soften the impacts. It all went down a bit early and abruptly. Somewhat of a rude surprise, but in the end, I was greatly relieved on all fronts.
(In that transition time, I recall a few of the nastiest patients who tried to return to the practice once the storm blew over…as if nothing had happened…without apology, concern or explanation.
I had told them at the outset, when they so self-righteously ‘cancelled their appointments till further notice by order of the governor!!’, that the governor had no business ‘executive ordering’ my practice to close…and that, short of an executive order for me to reopen, I would no longer be there for them).
I would not play that game in either direction.
People have to learn…
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But the next lesson awaited in my new circumstances…
I began to realize that on a subtle level, another question was rising.
It was unexpected and it went against the grain for me, but it was undeniably making its presence felt.
The question was “Who can I help?”
Given my bent and my experience, I was now in the most ideal circumstances! The answer should have been ‘Everybody!’.
But the world was dividing in two once again… There was an Awareness coming to the fore…
In this new world of hatchlings, I would have to make quicker assessments…along new lines. It was a kind of accelerated learning…
The awareness surprised me.
“Who can I help?” Far fewer than anticipated…
The ‘bodyworker/empath/healer’ me could see and feel with decades of experience... I still loved the work, but new and unfamiliar lines had been drawn and a different understanding was taking precedence.
It seemed that everything had shifted. As if the stage curtains had come down between acts in a play…and I found myself in the next act, fumbling for a sense of continuity that would not come.
It reminded me of the ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ books, where people’s choices delivered them to certain plot-lines…and their future courses were set accordingly.
There was nothing to do…nothing to fix…nothing to attempt to help or explain.
We were all in a new paradigm or dispensation.
I was not allowed to interfere with their process, their life experiences, their choices, or their journeys.
That, distressingly, included family, friends and associates of long-standing!
While my awareness was growing, sometimes by leaps and bounds, I was not being allowed to utilize what I knew and what I could now so easily see… (I could see and predict oncoming heart attacks, the course and lifespan of people with vaccine-induced cancers, clot-related dementia and strokes, etc.)
It went beyond covid…
Research and sharing went by the wayside. Things I had been deeply ensconced in long before covid…not to mention 6 years on the covid beat.
Wasted effort…writ large.
Hindered from helping…by the good side.
I was stepping into ‘be wise as serpents’ territory. I had been learning what deviousness people are capable of….self-deception included.
All those things determining their future trajectories…
In the Capricorn metaphor, there was a new mountain to climb…and it didn’t resemble the last mountains. It would take new skills and a different vantage point, not only to stay safe, but to progress. Hugging the walls a little differently, experiencing the storms from another angle…meeting different animals along the way.
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I’m finding it has a lot to do with a person’s receptivity…
If they signal that they are not receptive, so be it.
Learning to cut earlier and cleanly…before any damage is done…or precious energy and wisdom wasted.
Recognizing an assignment…When given…when completed. Shorter timelines.
People are ultimately self-responsible, even when it means learning the hard way. All the old rules and habits of sympathy no longer seem to apply.
And while it may seem harsh, it more cleanly places responsibility where it belongs… on to the individuals.
In that, they can be helped…Not carried…on my back…or heart.
God will not strive with men forever.
It seems to be about letting people experience where their pride and ego, their stubborn, unyielding and unloving natures land them.
They will experience the consequences.
They are still revealing themselves…
We are that far along in our story now, it seems.
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The question evolves further…
“Who should I help?? “
This puts a finer edge to things… The field grows a bit smaller.
and further still…
“Who wants to be helped?”
Not many. I’ve got to respect that. The days are getting longer with less to do…
a few observations along the way regarding ‘Who wants to be helped?’…
Not rich folks (they’ve got it all). Their days are spent on their distractions.
Or old folks (they KNOW it all)…no further growth expected. After all, that’s just too much work…and lest we forget, they already KNOW it all.
Well, alrighty then! Think I’ll just pass on by…
(there are truly lovely exceptions, but in a general sense…)
Nor the know-it-all youth, or the ego-bound…
They’re just not ready or mature yet. Timing is everything.
also best avoided…
The multitudes that conflate intelligence with being vicious, critical and demeaning. Absolute hordes of them these days. Do not be drawn into anything with them. Their angst is seeking outlets at other people’s expense (though when properly paired, much soothing noise results). They’re just endlessly looping…but that’s ok with them. It passes the time…of which they are heedless.
I’m sure some people can add their wisdom to this…
Just got to let things and people grind it out.
You try…once, twice, maybe three times…then let it go. Save your juice…you did what you could.
Maybe the saddest crowd of all…the “I did it MYYYYY way” crowd.
Now this is sometimes a necessary and needful experiment…that people can get terribly hung up on, but it might be wise now and then to take out the map, consult your course and measure your progress against that of people who opted for outside input and assistance. See if you really want to take that overland route by yourself. Sometimes swallowing a little pride is a good thing…(it’s ok…no one’s keeping score).
and further…
”Who do I WANT to help?”
This calls on a different level of spirit…
We are moved accordingly…if we so desire.
Where is the ‘inclination’ or lack thereof? The internal rudder that senses beyond reason and appearances…and knows the way.
“Who do I WANT to help?”
Not many.
When the least disagreement or resistance erupts into oddly violent and twisted response, I back away.
Not from fear, but from recognizance…of mental illness.
As the proverb goes…Don’t take an angry dog by the ears…
They bite…When enraged, they don’t/can’t hear…and they can’t be reasoned with.
Walk on. Deny future access. Once rabid…
Kind of terrible that it has cone to that, but I did my best. It is a hostile field. Why cement them further into their already-damaging positions?
Again, who knows whether or not we are interfering with someone’s lesson plan? Things often have to play out…
If we have chosen to ignore advice or wisdom, we are learning via experience…like a child that puts their hand on the hot stove they were warned about. Or the person who got involved with the wrong marital or business partner against the advice of others.
You can’t help a person who doesn’t want to help themselves first. Nor can you help the “No-hopers.”. Their minds are set.
With depressed types, I will try to encourage or coax them out the front door of the ‘house’ they are stuck in.
If that doesn’t work…(often they really want their ‘slough of despond’)…I have sometimes been known to turn around and heap MORE unhappiness on them…in an effort to knock them out the back door.
Wake them up a little, show them the trajectory they’re caught up in. Re-introduce them to the world outside their narrow, airless confines.
Now some of the less resourceful and imaginative among them have created EGO CONSTRUCTS around their soured attitudes. They LIKE their personas. They get an excuse…and a paid reputation for being hostile on a daily basis! (how unflattering!)
Who can be the most suspicious, insulting, vulgar and outraged of them ALL!!!?? (particularly unattractive in women)
There is a often a secondary benefit to holding on to illness or disability or a failed life story.
Many are simply trancing out…pain trances, end-of-the-world trances, weary minds feeling overcome and experiencing everything as a threat.
People will let you pour your life force into their ‘buckets with holes’ endlessly if you let them. Some people are happily stuck in their attention and misery-seeking. They will even tell you this!
Just as some of us are living in heaven’s waiting room, others are living in hell’s waiting room (possibly solving the age-old question).
But failing those attempts to help, I just continue running my own race and learning what I need to learn. The potentials that lie beyond the ordinary story are so vast…
This is not escapism, by the way. It is more a matter of giving each aspect of life its due.
And perhaps being slave to none…but the Best.
There are still mysteries to understand, crimes to solve, help to be given. but we should remind ourselves that this is for our growth and evolution, both personally and as a human society.
It’s really not supposed to be about clicks, winning arguments or rising in the ranks…IS IT?
(If you are competitive by nature, by all means, express that, but keep a little perpective. First does not make you best.)
What pressures come to bear when someone is financially bound to and/or invested in their stance, image, opinion, their carefully cultivated following, or the ego constructs they have created?
Those were decisions I grappled with a long time ago in many different settings…
I keep them separate. In this way, neither freedom nor integrity are compromised. ~~~~~~~~~~~
Many of these ego-constructs are just incurably nosy, rage-aholics, self-proclaimed copy and paste ‘authorities’.
(hint: note the set of the jaw or belligerent in-your-face, feigning ‘authoritah’* ad agency photos…carefully-crafted images with back stories that don’t always hold up to scrutiny.) South Park*
We are what we pretend to be so we must be careful what we pretend to be… Kurt Vonnegut
We fell for a lot of it at first in our search for leaders and informed voices, and were held in their thrall for any number of reasons, forgetting how prone we are to advertising tricks and psychological manipulation.
They have fallen short of their potentials, squandered their once-in-a-lifetime opportunities and are on their way to becoming versions of what they were fighting against…
The price of Egos unchecked.
We think the ‘baddies’ are all over there… Think again.
Do the same due diligence that you would for any other…
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There are those that have not yet received a dent or a blow to their egos…thus they can’t see. They really can’t...
NDEs tell a different story, as do those who have had experiences that break them or open them to a more awakened state…to levels beyond the ego’s grip.
To them, time and life is precious.
If you think you can pontificate, casually tossing off comments, insulting your struggling fellow humans, taking callous advantage of them in a myriad of ways, treating people like balls that can be kicked around a court for sport, you are a fool standing at the starting gate…
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Another category emerging in my understanding…
Those that actively despise wisdom.
Lately it is becoming a question of…
“Does this one despise wisdom…or do they embrace it?”
Quick and clean… That stance cuts to the chase. It sets the tone and the outline of a life. It tells the trajectory.
Chaos or Purpose?
Engagement and effort on my part…or withdrawal.
I grew up in a home where wisdom was despised. Morality was an inconvenience to our post-modern parents. We all paid the heavy price.
Wisdom, when I finally encountered it, was honey to my ears. I would give anything for it’s guidance and protection. I am grateful for the books (primarily), things and people who helped me see along the way…
In other people’s experiences, Wisdom was hatefully wielded. That is a different dilemma. One has to get out from under the poison of it and start fresh. Perhaps a more complex and difficult challenge…
Don’t let their poison, poison your life. A double tragedy…
I would want all the help needed and offered. As I’ve said…’What works…works!’
Make quick work of those whose minds are already made up. With people clinging too tightly to their viewpoints, interactions can become too intense or unhealthy.
Opt instead for those with a more fluid state of mind. A Beginner’s Mind is open to all Wisdom.
These days we are watching folks go to AI for their spiritual guidance…aieeee…
(You may feel like you wandered into the wrong room. It’s ok...These can be thoughts for another time)
Thank you for reading… I appreciate the people with whom we are sharing this time in history…
Finding connection, sharing the pieces of their history and hearts. A rich and varied diversity of experience, thought and insight.
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