The U.S. government and many of the people it represents have long justified the displacement of indigenous peoples in support of westward expansion. The so-called treaties—used as tools during the negotiations to persuade indigenous people to exchange lands east of the Mississippi for western land—should be seen for what they always were: devious tricks with hidden objectives. I have heard comments, for as long as I can remember, mocking indigenous people and their supporters who complain about the way they have been/are being treated. My only explanation for such attitudes is that those people seem to be lacking a gene for empathy and compassion and morality. And, in my humble opinion, they are stunningly stupid.
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Untold trillions of images are projected to our retinas during our lifetimes. I assert that most of those images may never get far enough into the brain to register. Some of the light and electrical impulses that travel from the retina and through the optic nerve to the brain seem to disappear before the brain can record the image. We “see,” but are essentially unconscious of those images. Only images that register matter. But could we somehow train ourselves to fully process every image? Or, at least, enable us to select images beyond those that are recorded automatically? Those thoughts percolated in my head as I allowed my eyes to follow and focus on everything in my study; item-by-item. I began to make mental note of everything, individually. By the time I got less than halfway through truly “seeing” the contents of my bookcase, I stopped to acknowledge the impossibility of what I was trying to do. My eyes followed the edges of each book. They recorded the colors of the books’ spines and, occasionally, the title if the typeface was large enough to read. But it became too much. Yet, taken in small doses, I think staring intently at a few elements of one’s environment can be enlightening. It tends to emphasize the purpose of each item behind the image. This is all speculation, of course, inasmuch as I have no scientific bona fides. My education, though, includes a Certificate in Alphabetization, A Through M, so that should count for something. See the image here? Every dot of every size is a place I plan to visit.
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The day is committed to getting away from me, but I am even more committed to making sure that doesn’t happen. You see, you can’t let a day get the upper hand. Don’t let it bully you into believing something you know is not true [e.g., “I didn’t realize it was Thursday already…I thought it was Sunday or Tuesday.”]. And for SURE, don’t fall for its demand that you sprint from one second to the next minute. So, assuming the day does NOT get away from me, what do I have planned?
First, I will conduct a mass-hypnosis event, placing every human being on the planet into a hypnotic state. Next, I will “program” them to be generous, kind, peaceful, welcoming, diversity-loving, and morally ideal people. The rest of the day will slide by in a decidedly leisurely fashion, doing whatever it will along the way. Tranquilidad.
Oh, except I have a palliative care nurse scheduled to visit around 11, so I probably will have to retain my grip on reality until later. I can return to Shangri-la whenever I feel the need for peace, solitude, and absolute power.
