Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.
~ John F. Kennedy
While we must learn from the past, re-living it can be depressing.
My husband and I had the privilege to learn from elite local guides in Eastern Europe who share a history of suffering atrocities at the hands of corrupt leaders.
The inherent lack of trust in government is pervasive there. The daily struggle to provide for one’s family spares little time to act to make things right. Numbing the pain with alcohol is not uncommon.
An attempt by the guides to warn Westerners about the censorship, propaganda, violation of human rights, and deliberate increase of the need for government protection - through the use of fear - was noted.
Necessity is the mother of invention.
~ Plato
On a positive note, there was excitement in the air about the use of clean hydrogen for fuel. Human ingenuity is awe inspiring.
Numbing pain
Ask not why the addiction. Ask why the pain?
~ Gabor Maté
My immersion into this cultural experience coincided with reading Dr. Gabor Maté’s recent book, The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness and Healing in a Toxic Culture.
Born amidst the Nazi genocide in Budapest in 1944, exposed to the suffering and the loss of many family members, Maté moved to Canada in 1957.
He became a family doctor concerned with childhood development, trauma, and its potential lifelong impacts on physical and mental health. He treated addiction in Vancouver's East Side with thoughtfulness and compassion.
Over four decades of clinical experience, Maté has come to recognize the prevailing understanding of “normal” as false, neglecting the roles that trauma and stress, and the pressures of modern-day living, exert on our bodies and our minds at the expense of good health. For all our expertise and technological sophistication, Western medicine often fails to treat the whole person, ignoring how the toxicity of today’s culture stresses the body, burdens the immune system, and undermines emotional balance.
I have not finished reading The Myth of Normal but have read all of Gabor Maté’s other books. They have helped shape the lens through which I see things.
Hope for a brighter future
Complex scientific and moral problems are not resolved through censorship of dissenting opinions, deleting content from the Internet, or defaming scientists and authors who present information challenging to those in power. Censorship leads instead to greater distrust of both government institutions and large corporations.
~ Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
I find myself looking for those who offer hope for a brighter future, rather than focus on who to blame for our demise.
While we do need to hold wrongdoers accountable and we must create awareness for the legacy of trauma, expecting the average person to apologize for the transgressions of their ancestors wounds and perpetrates further division.
Contrary to what the media portrays, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an Independent candidate for the US 2024 election, is not “anti” anything. He is “pro” personal and collective health.
As an environmental lawyer, he learned enough about each of the cases he litigated to earn the equivalent of a PhD. His work ethic is unsurpassed.
He aspires to end the forever wars, clean up the government, increase wealth for all, and earn back trust in leadership.
When asked what motivates him, he says, our children. That is the kind of leadership I look forward to.
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