life, quotes

Pretending

Lori

You are not just a son or a daughter, a husband or a wife, a carpenter or a plumber, a black person or a white person, a Christian or a Jew. Yet if you identify with these roles, you will not discover the essence within you that goes beyond them. Nor will you find a way to transcend the inevitable division these external definitions will create in your life. ~ Paul Ferrini, Miracle of Love

I’ve been having a difficult time pretending.

There are things I see going on that many others don’t see, and I don’t know how or why they don’t see it. So I pretend.

I pretend like what’s going on in the world isn’t on my mind. I pretend I’m not concerned for the future of society as a whole. I pretend I don’t notice people making irrational emotional decisions to divide themselves into groups. I pretend I’m not upset that emotions (fear, anger, depression) are being used to create laws that force citizens to behave a certain way “for our own good.” I pretend I’m not offended by people who shame me for not going along with the emotional manipulation. For not being ruled by fear. For being true to myself.

I’ve never been one to follow the crowd just because I’m told it’s what people do. So, I pretend that I don’t notice how it’s like high school peer pressure. Follow and do what the cool-kids do or be ousted from having any friends; only this time you can lose your livelihood or maybe even be imprisoned.

I pretend that it doesn’t disturb me that so many don’t see the dangers of this emotional manipulation to divide and conquer.

The groups mentioned in the beginning quote are only a few which media manipulates people into identifying with. There’s also man/woman/trans, gay/straight, republican/democrat, liberal/conservative, mask wearer/non-mask wearer, vaccinated/non-vaccinated. Shall I go on?

We need to be free to err in order to transcend into deeper awareness of who we are. The enforcement of behavior by people who claim to be righteous, imprisons the soul, stifling growth, until something terrible happens to free us. The term history repeats itself, is not merely a simple cliché, it’s a truth we must always be on top of.

I’m really tired of pretending. I don’t want to know people on the surface from their skin color or which gender they have sex with. Whether you wear a mask, get or don’t get a vaccine is not what matters to me. If you put yourself in any of the categories mentioned in this post, I don’t want to know. Instead, what I’d like to know about you is what the Oriah Mountain Dreamer wants to know.

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Published by Lori

Observer, thinker, learner, analyzer, and author. Love dogs. Enjoy cooking, laughing and spiritual centering.

11 thoughts on “Pretending”

  1. This past year, I’ve made it my mission to hold on to my peace. This is the only life I have, so I’ve decided not to waste it worrying about other people and their issues….I have enough of my own. LOL! In doing so, I’ve tuned out the things I have absolutely no control over and use my energy in my little part of the world with my white, black and brown friends who I love all the same. I’ve accepted the fact that the internet/media, etc. has changed our society and sadly, there is no going back. As for being yelled at for not wearing a mask in the US, I think it depends on where you live and who is running the state. You might be thinking Florida is looking pretty good right now. 🙂

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    1. Hi Jill. Florida was always the freer state, which was one of the reasons we moved there in the first place. I’m not one for heat, so if I move, it’s South Dakota next time. 😉 But, I need to be near my parents right now.

      I wish I had your strong will to tune out what’s going on and keep the peace inside. For me, it’s not so much about what others are doing, but more about what we’re being forced to do. Masks are only one part of it. Freedom is being chipped away a bit at a time by using division. My choices for MY life are being dwindled away. Other people seem simply okay with that for their lives. I’m not, and it’s really starting to get to me.

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        1. I know, you’re always freezing. I’m sure you keep a sweater handy. Between my hot Italian blood and hot flashes on top of that, I sweat when it’s 72 degrees.

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  2. I understand why we have to do it. I wouldn’t want to be responsible for inadvertently spreading the coronavirus, especially if someone got sick enough to die. But my, I am so sick of wearing masks! And we still have to, even though almost all adults in this part of the world have been vaccinated. (We are about to cross over into “herd immunity” or 75% vaccinated.) It’s tempting to just chuck it and say, “nope, not today.” However, I understand that even if you’re vaccinated, coronavirus can still hitch a ride on your hands or even up your nose, so an inoculated person can still spread it. Yikes.

    I had a similar thing happen a couple of weeks ago – in a store, looking at a wine bottle (yup, I get it; trying to see what the label says), my nose slipped out of its harness and “shriek!” The manager or whoever she was was admonishing me like I was five. Eventually, we’re going to have to return to some semblance of “normal” with handshakes and non-distancing and non-masking. Not really on topic with your piece but I got triggered by your experience.

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    1. Hi Lynette. I respect your choice to wear a mask. I’m for the freedom to choose, not for shaming people or threatening their livelihoods, or even jail. But, the mask issue is not the ultimate point to this post. The discussion and division over masks is a distraction. The virus is being used as yet another reason to keep us divided. From skin color to whether someone wears a mask or not. At this point, I see the division as a way to slowly dwindle away freedom one bit at a time – and it’s working.

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    1. Hi Anneli. You’re certainly right about not speaking up.
      All the things I’ve written here is what I pretend not to notice. Heck, the other day in the store I couldn’t read the ingredients on a package with my mask on, so I took it off to read. It wasn’t off for 30 seconds when someone in the store YELLED at me to put on my mask. I didn’t comply, but I just walked away. Another girl at my doctor’s office said she’s going to video people without masks and shame them on the internet. I cannot take this anymore, and I’m not going to pretend even on my blog. This is pure tyranny. People look like mindless drones out there with their masks.
      Stepping off my soap box now.

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