TRIBAL ANXIETY AND IGNORANCE ARE VYING FOR OUR ATTENTION

 

TRIBAL ANXIETY AND IGNORANCE ARE VYING FOR OUR ATTENTION

 

Have you ever felt like a puppet as if an invisible puppet master is pulling your strings and the path and the story are no longer your own?  You feel like a piece of flotsam floating on the river of life and nothing connects.  Despite all the gadgets that keep you hooked and entertained, despite all the images and blurbs, there is only the illusion of connectivity.  The substance is lacking and a sense of truly belonging; to a family, to a community, to a place of work and even to a nation, it is simply not there.

Not only do I like to keep my articles short, I also prefer to concentrate on the essence.  Forget about the tiny details and the exceptions or providing proof by the baker’s dozen.  Facts and proof are only relevant if you’re prepared to accept them, not at face value, but through fact checking and verification.  I have never cared for the bits and bobs masquerading as news, for the kind of infotainment that has turned the newscast into ‘the show’.  We’re not even pretending anymore that investigative journalism and the accuracy of reporting is an actual requirement.  There are a few holdouts that deserve praise and I won’t name them for fear that either their funding will be yanked or their presenters vilified for having the audacity to report and investigate the massive amount of distortion, lies and fabrications flying under the radar as official policy.  As news!

Let’s stick with the basics.

The essence of life is about the preservation of life and the majority of species will engage in the act of procreation as this instinctive aspect is present in all of them.  All part of that mysterious evolution thing tangled up in our DNA.  We can try to ignore it, but it doesn’t quite work out that way.  The urge appears to be a majority kind of thing and few opt out.  Don’t try to rationalize it other than that evolution packs a powerful punch that is difficult to resist.  Self-preservation comes next and in this case it is all about survival.  Not a single species likes to give up the fight when it comes to life and living.  Incidents of suicide are infrequent in the individual, but mass suicide incidents are even rarer.  Only a few such historical events have been documented.  To illustrate how desperately we cling to life I will use the Nazi death camps as an example and you would think that faced with a certain death a large number of those held captive would consider suicide.  It didn’t happen and as one survivor reported, “Tomorrow could be the day of liberation, so you don’t give up.”  Look at all the misery that has descended upon cities and nations these past few years and how the masses rally, despite the suffering, the hunger and starvation, despite all the misery and deaths.

For the sake of clarity and keeping it short, I will stick with our species.  All living species follow the same patterns, needs and requirements.  I don’t want to get hung up on small differences and exceptions.  Whenever the occasion permits and warrants I love to put in a plug for my novel, Energy & Origin, based on the premise that energy created life, and life is energy.  Energy and momentum are joined at the hip because you can’t have one without the other.  Energy bundles and dissipates and we’re all familiar with the following:  We all eat at regular intervals because the food that we ingest doesn’t provide everlasting energy.  All lifeforms on Earth respond to the same instinctive needs and we can divide those needs in three.

Our primary need is for oxygen, food, water and sunlight (we don’t do well in the dark, except for night owls).  Secondary needs include shelter and clothing, although clothing can be optional depending on climate, culture and proclivity.  Some of us like to be covered from head to toe and others prefer au naturel.  Tertiary needs conform to tribal requirements; health, safety, and security concerns.

Humans excel in the anxiety department for a good reason.

None of the above, even when met, alleviate all of our concerns, because all species have a limited lifespan and are prone to ageing, disease and misfortune, no matter if optimum living conditions are met.  Life is a crap shoot from start to finish and there are no certainties.  We are constantly reminded of the fact that we are fragile creatures and it is this uncertainty that fuels anxiety.  We intellectualize everything!  People that study the natural sciences marvel at the way that nature—and I am sticking to trees and vegetation—have their own ingenious ways of protecting themselves from harm and adversity and they show an incredible resilience.  By the way, so do we, look at the numbers?    But, a mobile (ouch! Intelligent, ouch!) creature such as ourselves, has developed a much wider set of responses and some are rooted in some questionable attitudes and motives.  Color, race, language, culture, religion, gender, sexual orientation, customs and traditions; all can invoke actions and reactions that have little to do with meeting primary needs, but has everything to do with how diversity looks great on paper, but in reality, when adversity comes knocking on our doors, can produce some extreme responses.

Currently planet Earth is bearing the full physical impact of our species and in the complex societies we have created there is little we can all agree upon.  If anything, our disagreements are like the migratory paths of birds flying from one continent to the other.  We can’t seem to be able to make up our minds either.  We’re better known for our bitter infighting and picking fights with neighbors.  And what most conflicts and wars have in common is an irrationality that defies description.

It is hard to stop what we put in motion.  Momentum can be an ugly thing and anxiety levels amongst global tribes are on the rise.

Anxiety is creeping under our skin like a virus that defies antibiotics.  Regressive/negative human behavior has to run its course until it runs out of energy.  Put us under a microscope and what emerges is an argumentative, ungrateful lot, often resembling our political parties, sniping at each from across the aisles in never ending attacks, complaints and grievances.  A courteous discourse is simply not in the cards and only in our passing, when death comes knocking on our doors, timely or untimely, can all agree that we have lost a dearly beloved one and that he or she will be sorely missed.  At times our hypocrisy is the only thing we celebrate with gusto, as our insincerity flows from our visage in copious rivulets.  Actors all of us, so take a bow.

Lately my anxiety hails from an ageing body that increasingly shows a reluctance to comply with my wishes.  My mind commands, but the body refuses to follow suit.  In life there is only one certainty.  There is a finality to death that none of us can escape.  Death is the great equalizer.  Therefore, why complain about a fate that has befallen everyone that has preceded us, just as it will meet up eventually with anyone following in our footsteps.

May your future be short on missteps and be blessed with good health and fortune (if not found in a Chinese fortune cookie, it should be).

No, I didn’t leave out or forget about that ignorance thing, because honestly, does it need an explanation?  Ignorance is the fuel that anxiety feeds upon.

Feel free to comment or share and I am not so sure I want to hear about personal anxieties.  Keep it short and general.  Once upon a time I was a counsellor and I have worn out my empathy bone.

If you want to feel better about yourself and where we’re headed and why, purchase my book: Energy & Origin on KDP Amazon.ca

My official penname is W.M.A Bes