Good morning. I’m writing this the day after the U.S. Supreme Court released its bizarre and historically ungrounded opinion giving the former republican president and all future presidents immunity from criminal prosecution for any acts they are able to deem “official.” Okay, pause. Take a deep breath.
I would like to say something healing, and maybe I will eventually. I guess we’ll find out.
It’s been a stressful week. I’m preparing to remodel my 1959 kitchen—you know, get new cabinets, replace the formica with quartz counter tops, that kind of thing. With the help of friends, and to the great distress of my feline companions, I have been moving all the contents of my kitchen and family room into other areas in the house. It’s like moving without moving. Everywhere there is chaos and clutter. (I could draw an analogy here about the current state of our nation, but you get it.)
Tomorrow the project will begin with the removal of insulation from the attic so it won’t be falling out as they’re installing new lighting in the ceiling. What can I say? No better time to remove insulation than during a 110 degree heat wave! Jeez.
On Monday, after the long holiday weekend, the demolition of the existing kitchen will begin.
I know I am very privileged to be able to afford to embark on such a project purely for my own pleasure and profit (to increase the value of my house). Nonetheless I’m stressed! I’ve been so overwhelmed that I’ve spent barely any time at all the past few months reading or writing. All I do is pack and watch TV. I’m tired now, and with all the political news, I feel sad. I woke up at four am, and knowing I still had a blog post that needed writing, I began to wonder what I should write. And then I decided to write about my father.
This past April was the 50th anniversary of my father’s sudden death from his first and last heart attack. I was still in high school when he died. I felt very close to my Dad, and I was devastated.
He was the son of immigrants, a WWII veteran, a man who preached your basic American Dream philosophy that if you worked hard you would succeed. He worked as an accountant for the state of California, and he was big on organization, efficiency, and planning. He had a little paper sign mounted on his home desk with the word “THINK” displayed in a dozen different languages. I interpreted this as a caution against impulsivity—think before you act, don’t go off half-cocked, for crying out loud!! As a kid with a lot of vague creative ambitions and desires, this struck me as—I don’t know—discouraging, I guess. I couldn’t help but be like him. Then and now, I like organizing and planning too. But I have always longed for sudden intuitive leaps.
After my Mom died, going through their stuff, I found this slim blue book called As A Man Thinketh by James Allen. I thought, oh, yeah, I remember seeing this on Dad’s desk. I assumed it was full of cautionary tales—don’t live for today—plan, plan, plan for the future! Think!! Always an ant, never a grasshopper. That kind of thing. But I was wrong. When I opened it up and started reading, I discovered this book is a kind of precursor to The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, and You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay. I think the book’s full title should be “As a man thinketh, so shall he manifest.”
As Shakti Gawain would tell us, what you affirm will grow. As my late friend Craig used to say, anything and everything manifests first on the energetic planes. As we imagine what we want, we attract the energy to create it. Nonetheless, I might imagine a beautiful kitchen, but I must also devote the time and resources to manifest it.
My father’s little blue book showed me this isn’t some “new age” nonsense, but an idea that’s been around for a very long time. And I believe it. First we affirm—or if you prefer—first we pray, then we get to work. The secret is it’s okay if you don’t know what to do, if you don’t know how to manifest. First we affirm and we pray and we trust that Divine Energy (aka God if you prefer) will lead us. Allow this to happen.
That’s what’s happening to me this morning. I started writing a post for the 4th of July, and I had no idea where it was going to go. But as I was writing the words came. Strangely enough, the ideas followed.
Now I have a call to action, a few simple things you may do to help America on our birthday.
First: if you don’t already do so, please subscribe to Heather Cox Richardson’s newsletter. HCR is a Professor of History at Boston College, and she’s brilliant. She began writing a daily record of current events during the pandemic and it went viral. Richardson summarizes what’s happening nearly every day in America and the World to help keep us all informed, and also to create a primary historical source for our times. She’s an academic, but her writing is far from dry—and everything is annotated. She shows her work!! You can check her sources. It’s a relatively short read most days—much easier than keeping up with a newspaper or cable station. Plus it’s free, though she does have a paid version, and I do recommend we readers send her a donation occasionally.
Here’s a link to subscribe. Alternately you may follow her on Facebook.
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com
Following HCR is my #1 suggestion to combat misinformation and disinformation.
Here’s #2: Check out this website: https://www.bigwin2024.com/
BidenForTheWinCardCampaign is a grassroots movement devoted to truth. They do this by promoting the distribution of postcards. Here’s how it works:
On their website, they have everything you need to print up position papers on the two presidential candidates on index cards. Each card will have Biden’s positions on a particular subject printed on a blue background, and on the flip side are Trump’s positions on a red background. There is a QR code on each side to check sources. Obviously you can tell from their name that they’re biased, but they’re respectful in their explanations. Check it out, see for yourself.
We are urged to print up the cards and distribute as many as we can. And don’t worry, they have plenty of suggestions on how to give out these cards–easy things to do, even for an introvert like myself.
These cards focus on unvarnished reality—what we may expect from each man based on how each has already performed as president. Cards have already been created outlining each man’s position on these topics: Democracy, Immigration, Healthcare, Climate Change, Women’s Issues, and the Economy. They will be creating more cards as the campaigns progress.
By the way, you can tell it’s a grassroots movement because on their website they say they’ve met their goal of raising $3,100.00, and no new donations are needed at this time. When was the last time you heard that in a political organization?
Here is the link: https://www.bigwin2024.com/joinus
Getting back to my father—it was amazing for me to see him in a new light. He was a perfectionist, and sometimes I lament that I inherited a few unforgiving tendencies from him. But he was also an optimist with a mindset of abundance, a man with some wonderful ideas he was able to manifest. He believed, as I do, in the law of attraction.
Admittedly I sometimes struggle with doubts, but that’s a subject for another time. Right now I want to say how grateful I am, how hopeful I continue to be, how happy I am to be writing at this moment.
I affirm that by working together we continue to create a community that celebrates freedom and compassion based on the ideals expressed by our foremothers and fathers. I affirm this. I pray for guidance.
Happy Birthday, America!
Happy 4th of July, dear friends!!
Last thing: As I have in past years, I’m going to take a summer hiatus. But after a few requests I got last year, I will post Summer Reruns—reprints of past flash fiction stories and poems from previous years. Watch for them, coming soon to an email inbox or a Facebook Page near you.
I know this is longer than usual, so thank you for reading this far. Take care, be careful in the heat, and enjoy your summer!!
Photo by Nong on Unsplash
