I think it would have cost you more than you think to remain silent. I am glad you are sharing these fears. The cozy places are the best places to share our fears, because they are the places we feel safe.

There’s a quite famous poem about not speaking out until it was too late, not speaking out until there is no one to speak out… Better to speak, I think.

We certainly live in dark times. The times only get darker if we cannot joke about them.

No one has a monopoly on horror.

No one should make you feel like you cannot joke about those horrors.

It is not tasteless to joke about the horrors that exist, and have existed. It’s tasteless to pretend they didn’t exist, don’t exist.

I want you to forgive yourself for making light. We NEED light.

The dead have already suffered. The dead do not command us. The dead do not control us.

Live for the living. Laugh for the living. Laugh for yourself. Laugh for me. Laugh for us. Laugh because we need laughter.

Here is one of my favourite jokes:

A holocaust survivor dies of old age and goes to heaven. When he gets there he meets God and tells him a holocaust joke.

God says, “That’s not funny.”

And the man says, “I guess you had to be there.”

It is easy for us to get distracted by the big picture, and it can feel overwhelming when everything is is much bigger than us.

Remember that it is in the nature of our governments to disappoint us - this is because we live in a democracy centered on compromise. This is a good thing! This is another reason for us to have our representatives deal with that process - it allows us to keep moral clarity while they try to get the work done. We can sit in judgement of them while they make the Faustian bargains which keep the peace between those of us who would slay each other in the name of what we think is right. Sometimes, however, we need to look away from the sausage making. Give yourself a break, and come back to the body politic refreshed and refocused.

Would I change the system? Absolutely! Would most people agree with my changes… well… I’m not so sure… hence a system of disappointing compromises.

We can also get distracted by our personal struggles, stuck in the small frame of our own lives.

I am currently stuck in my small frame too, my personal struggles have overwhelmed me and I have found my self seized, stuck, immobile, useless, rotting, failing… well, you get the picture I hope.

I am trying. Slowly, the gears will be oiled, and the machine will move, and I am going to build capacity and become part of a community.

That is the middle ground - the place humans used to live. The way humans evolved to live. Act local, build community, and simultaneously the big picture and the small frame both start improving.

This is easier said than done!

To be honest though, you are already doing it here! This is a community. These people would not see you return to your creator, and I am absolutely certain the creator will be willing to wait many years for you to come back. They will call you when you are both ready.

I am not trying to offer advice, as I do not know your struggles.

I hope that you can continue through them, and I hope that your growth and success inspires others to continue their struggles.

I hope that your success can inspire your community to more success, more unity, and a better life for everyone.

(This post turned out much longer than I had initially intended - tldr: “Keep at it, we’re with you”)

Okami and Trains - now that is a good day.

Toasties!

Bread! Cheese! Tomato!

And fancy pancetta because I deserve a treat sometimes.

It’s on SBS On Demand, super green!

https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/movie/the-fifth-element/643564099829

“Ah, I think I understand the problem with your device. For our next troubleshooting step please pick up your mouse. Now just wrap that around your neck ever so gently… I understand it sounds silly but we’re trying to align your bodies electrical field with your device to restore functionality… great, that’s done? Now grab both ends of the cable, either side of your neck, and just pull as hard as you can. You might find it difficult to speak for this bit but don’t worry. Also black dots appearing in your vision is perfectly normal… great… keep pulling…”