Voting in red red Florida is really fun!

Dear you,

Walton County primary voting was really, really fun!  Meaning, not.  I should know to just keep my head down and not interact with anyone here, especially far-right sign-wavers.  This is a seriously Republican county and the candidates for most local positions are all super R's. As a registered Democrat, I was only allowed to vote on three primary choices: the Democrat challenging our dreaded "Skeletor" Senator Rick Scott, the property appraiser, and for some strange reason, the commissioner candidate for a district I don't even live in, nothing makes sense here so that is pretty much SNAFU.

Seeking input about my limited choices, I approached two smiling women and a very hyper dude, all aggressively waving signs for their favorite fascists.  The smiles didn't last long when I told them I was a Democrat, one of those dangerous liberal elites.  Admittedly, that last bit was a weak attempt at humor, but the dude seemed amused.  He laughed, perhaps a bit too maniacally, and walked away while the women stayed focused, doing their best to answer my questions. During this info session, the dude came storming back in full asshole-mode. He was screaming, I kid you not, screaming, the usual complaints such as "you people are ruining the county; you and that Kamala aren't patriots" and (as expected) bits of unintelligible nonsense about "the border, the border, the border."  I didn't flinch, told him to calm down, and that made him even madder. Oh, baby, these angry white men. What is it about liberal, fearless women that sets them off so violently?  Rhetorical question.  We know.  But I do appreciate the two gals who stood firm. They gave him "back off" stares that shut him up. 

As for their advice, I did use it.  I voted for the candidates they opposed.  They can thank their angry-asshole pal for that. 

I left the voting site unscathed, except for a yellow fly bite I suffered during the "info session". You see, even the insects in Walton County hate liberals. Like I said, voting here is really, really fun!

See you in November, asshole dude, I'm not running away.

Love,

Joyce

#HarrisWalz2024

Authenticity

Dear you,

Hot August thoughts in my 1,028 square feet of shelter.  I am preparing for something as I hide from the heat, shut out construction noise, and come down from political sugar highs.  I am in listening mode, taking in thoughts from others, their shared experiences and reflections on whatever "this" is we are doing. Via book form, I listen to Richard Todd in The Thing Itself, On the Search for Authenticity. He writes "The landscape is literally contested turf, a battlefield of competing dreams."

Hot August strife in our little nation, indeed the landscape of contested turf and competing dreams.

Some of us dream of a place where people are tightly wrapped and constrained.  They dream of everyone and every venture fitting their points of view:  old roles and rules must be followed, the wild world must be tamed and strip-malled, chatter must override thinking, posing must be judged as superior to unsettling authenticity.

Then there is a competing dream: We dream of the unique individual running her/his life. (I heard Kamala Harris' vice presidential pick challenge the constraining forces on this point in his first rally, "Mind your own damn business." Yes, sir. Exactly.) We can dream of a lush world that is cherished and not exploited.  We can dream of knowing what is real and privileging that above the scam of commercialized everything.

Dreams inspire action. Successful actions are fueled by intelligence.  Intelligence is gained from study, observation of the very real (which is here behind the veil), and authoritative listening, knowing we have the power to distinguish between facts and lies. Are you thinking about The Matrix now?  In that film's world, reality must be found.  What seems to be is not there; it is a blue-pill side effect. Todd references that movie in his book, an obvious example of our search for authenticity. And who can think of The Matrix and not think about Keanu Reeves, the actor portraying the ultimate searcher?  Yes, I get it, he's an actor who isn't really searching, just a guy playing the searcher.  But the actor himself spends plenty of time thinking about reality and growth. Hence, the photo above and his words:

"Be aware of the quiet ones, they are the ones who actually think. The smarter you get, the less you speak."

And on this hot August day in my 1,028 square feet, I thank Reeves and Todd for dropping by. I'm listening. 

Let us all be the quiet ones, the smart ones, the ones searching for authenticity always.

Abstractly yours,

Joyce