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Grumpy Old Hippie Pt 6
Times are hard. So much is happening and much of it is going in the wrong direction. Of course that is my view, my perspective. Others look at the same situation and apparently think ah finally the right action is being taken. The lines have never been more starkly demarcated. This contrast is pointed out to me almost everyday. Almost everyday someone asks me ‘Are you okay?’ No I am not okay and they clearly do not want to hear that answer. If I say no some will shake their heads and say sorry and scurry away quickly. Some will say sorry what is happening. Oh no where to go then? There is the climate crisis, our socio-political rolling disaster, my personal relationships in free fall, my physical health issues, my financial health issues, and my car needs a new transmission.
So usually I just say okay or sometimes a sheepish smile with a short ‘I am working on a functional definition of what okay might mean’ That often gets a chuckle as they are walking away.
So what am I really grumpy about? I have been thinking about this a lot since I published Pt 5. It is a sense of failure that permeates my life in my retirement that I am so grumpy about. For most of my adult life I had a deep seated sense that I was accomplishing goals, living a good life, helping people, and helping as much as I could to make this a better world for myself, my children, my extended family, my local…
