I woke up, as usual, in the dark. At most times of the year, it would already be daylight at the same time of day, here on the Canadian prairies. Since today is the official day for the Winter Solstice, this only makes sense – the longest night and the shortest day here in the northern hemisphere. It’s not the friendliest time of the year for humans. Like many others, I have been putting links to help lines on various social media platforms, especially the suicide hotlines. It’s a sad reality for too many, that at this darkest time of year, depression and hopelessness seem to gain ascendancy. However, there is one important thing to remember during this Dark Night of the Soul . . . the way forward is into increasing light.
The above is “normal” in terms of the psychological make up of humans. However, there are other factors now in play that worsen the psychological situation. Trump has been impeached in the USA. However, rather than helping a significant percentage of the population, the anti-Trump crowd, if anything tensions are now worse with both sides of that existential conflict left in limbo. Democratic government doesn’t seem to matter anymore, leaving people feeling abandoned and powerless and dispirited. In Britain, the election of Boris Johnson has taken that country down a similar path. The hopes of having the UK respond with any sanity to environmental issues have been dashed and shattered, at least for four to five years.
In Canada, we faced the same threat in our recent national election. The centrist party squeaked out a minority government. That said, we know that minority government is typically short lived. The general mood is that of a hammer being held over our heads, waiting until the opportune moment for it to fall and persuade the people to elect another anti-environment government. How does this happen? Pit us all against each other so that anyone and everyone who doesn’t echo what we want or believe is tagged as the enemy. We see the truth of this in social media where intolerance is running rampant.
It’s enough to say fuck it and disappear into some proverbial forest to live off the land away from people. Yesterday, I came across this song that I want to share that sort of echoes this sentiment by Thomas Benjamin Wild. It’s a hilarious song, something sorely needed at this time of year. After all, from this moment in time forward, we are marching back to the light that promises us spring and summer.
How are you doing? What are your hopes for the tomorrows to come?