Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings obliteration. I will face my fear and I will permit it to pass over me and through me. ~ Frank Herbert, Dune

Hello friends and welcome to the apocalypse, I personally refer to it as the shambling apocalypse, instead of the one day societal fall we see in all the movies, this one seems to be wobbling around and slowly progressing. I’m going to start tonight’s post by triggering all of your fears. All of the things I’m going to mention are legitimate concerns, reason for fear/anxiety and many of the things many of you are doom scrolling endlessly on your phones. If you are easily triggered, all the bad new is in red below, so just skip over it and move on to the black type.

So welcome to July 1st, let’s start with the good news. For the first time in 469 days the world’s oceans are not at the highest temperature in recorded history. The bad news is that they are still basically at the highest temperatures in recorded history, leading to yesterday a hurricane being the first ever recorded category 4 hurricane in the Atlantic in the month of June. Hurricane Beryl is currently blasting Caribbean Island nations with 150 mph sustained winds. To all my Caribbean, Mexican, Southern and Eastern coastal readers, buckle up it’s going to be a really nasty hurricane season.

In the world of COVID, we are currently seeing a spike double the size that we did last summer, still not winter flu season numbers but you might want to wear a mask in the crowd, particularly if you’re unvaccinated or immune suppressed in some way.

Politically, the US Supreme Court has recently ruled that government agencies can only regulate something very specifically, and previously laid out by law. Meaning that any new situation can’t be addressed without a new law. Shouldn’t be an issue given how harmonious, quickly and efficiently our congress works, oh wait…. They’ve also ruled that presidents essentially have total immunity, can’t imagine how that could go wrong.

On the international political front everything is calm and great, just kidding. France has given a potential parliamentary majority to the far right, lead by Marie Le Pen. Nothing to see there, she’s only the daughter of an unabashed Neo-Nazi who expressed those views herself until she got a more palatable political makeover about five years ago. With the rise of far right influence in Europe and the US focusing around immigration, it’s like the white people of the world are saying to all the non-whites, go back to where you came from, completely ignoring that non-whites only make up around 10% of the world. Native Americans reading this are just silently shaking their heads.

The Ukraine-Russian War rages in Europe with more involvement by the EU, NATO and US every day. Israel is still leveling GAZA and killing large numbers of women and children every day. Hezbollah in Lebanon and Israel creep closer to war, Iran has let it be known if it starts they’ll unleash all of their proxy groups on everyone. Russia and North Korea are getting chummy, World War III is potentially 12-18 months away.

Finally your weather report, it’s hot, record heat wave coming to California where I live, starting later today and extending through the next week or so. People in the Northeast are just ending a similar one they have faced. But here’s the good news, because of global warming, this is likely the coolest summer of the rest of your life.

So what the hell do you do!?

Do nothing. Be still. Sleep. Rest in the arms of the dragon. Dream.

If you just read that line in the voice of Nicol Williamson, who played Merlin in Excalibur, you’re my kind of people, we should hang out.

The large, complicated and existentially dreadful portions of life are often generally ignored by people who go about their daily lives like those things don’t exist. That’s both good and bad, when things are truly an existential threat, like climate change and world wars, apathy is not a good thing for humanity. But in your day to day life, these things typically don’t have a massive impact and paralyzing anxiety is a solution to nothing.

So here’s my recommendation, do what you can, when you can, to positively impact the bigger issues in the world. Whether that’s working for a political campaign, raising awareness or donating to an issue you should do what you can up to a level that doesn’t negatively impact your life. If you are fighting against global climate change to leave a better world for your children and grandchildren but in the process of fighting neglect any relationship with them, well, maybe that’s not the best answer. By doing what you can, when you can, hopefully you’ll then have the headspace to be more mindfully engaged in your day to day life in a positive and meaningful way.

To bastardize a line from, V for Vendetta, an apocalypse without dancing would be an apocalypse not worth having. And what that very powerful quote expresses, is the idea that no matter what the situation of the world, or your life, you have to find time for joy. You have to take the time to nourish the art, joy and love in your soul. Even in the midst of horror, it’s ok to find some beauty.

So make appropriate time to impact the world as best you can, but also make time to garden, to be in nature, to paint, or sing or play music. Make time to just sit and be, better even if that’s by a stream or an ocean. We are all afraid, all of the time, at some level. Don’t let that underlying current of anxiety and fear prevent you from experiencing beauty, love and joy, don’t let it prevent you from living a happy life. And most of all, let yourself have happy days my friends. ~ Rev Kane