It is said that life is more of a journey than a destination. If one is always focused on a particular goal, one can miss the more meaningful parts of living. After all, goals tend to lose some of their significance once you have actually achieved them.
Still, planning ahead is important and the Solstice is coming.
So how will you prepare for the returning of the light?
The House will be voting on two articles of impeachment next week, assuming Rep. Jordan doesn’t chain himself naked to the ceiling of the chamber in a desperate attempt at distraction. I’m joking of course! Maybe.
Still, how will you prepare for the returning of the light?
Although these articles are likely to pass, it is the Senate who will decide whether or not to remove Treason Weasel if he is impeached. And unfortunately, the Republicans in the Senate have the majority AND seemed weirdly determined to defend a man who thought attacking a teenage climate activist on twitter was a totally acceptable thing to do.
So how will you prepare for the returning of the light?
Now, here at Sing into the Void, I try to be fair. Yes, it may seem that the GOP is being blackmailed with old emails that were hacked (but never released like their DNC counterparts) back in 2016. And yes, maybe there’s something odd about just how much Senate Majority Leader McConnell had to be shamed before he would vote on that bi-partisan election security bill. But on the other hand…..just kidding! There is no other hand. This ain’t Fox News and we don’t do that shit here. The evidence is damning, but Republicans don’t seem to care.
So how will you prepare for the returning of the light?
I haven’t been as diligent at writing on the impeachment proceedings as I’d initially hoped, mostly because there are only so many ways to write about the head-in-ass syndrome of the Republican Party of today. If I’m going to bold enough to write about subject matter that is already being covered by some of the best journalists and writers alive, I should at least try to make it useful and interesting, yeah?
Besides- information that is repetitive can get boring and become harder to process, which is probably why the GOP is behaving like a bunch of toddlers who haven’t had a nap or a snack in twelve hours- those toddlers are REALLY hoping that we’ll give up and let them eat their Mac and Cheese without eating their vegetables first. And by “eat their Mac and Cheese,” I mean “loot all the wealth of this country for themselves while using gerrymandering and disinformation to protect their own jobs and avoid any kind of accountability or even the mildest of criticism.”
Yeah, it can all seem kind of bleak sometimes. But be that as it may, how will you prepare for the returning of the light?
Because the light will return. Whatever happens in D.C., the days are going to start getting longer and warmer. Reality will continue, no matter how many tantrums Our Glorious Leader throws on twitter. We can’t let a frightening present prevent us for preparing for the endless possibility of the future.
So prepare.
If you have the time, maybe wash your sheets and other miscellaneous linens if you haven’t for a while. That’s a good way to prepare for the new year. Perhaps you might organize your books, or deep clean your bathroom. You needn’t slave away for hours, but performing some small task to make your living space more comfortable in the Winter is both immensely satisfying and free.
And if you are already comfortable in your space, then there are other ways to prepare too.
Check your voter registration. Check it again. Call your reps to thank them or shame them, depending on how they have behaved during these impeachment proceedings. Donate to a campaign if you can. If you’re feeling brave, consider phone banking or canvassing for a candidate you admire.
And if you are unable to support a campaign or you just can’t bring yourself to get THAT involved in politics, there are plenty of other ways you can prepare for the returning of the light. You can donate non-perishables to a food pantry, or make plans to plant trees in the warmer months. You can check with your local electric utility organization to see if they offer shares in green energy production. If you have the means and live in a sunny area, you might even consider shopping for solar panels yourself.
You can make plans to take better care of yourself and exercise your body, if you don’t already. Contrary to the popular narrative, exercise can take many forms and doesn’t have to involve a class full of white people in spandex. Taking the stairs can be exercise. Walking to work now and again can be exercise. Doing a few squats or crunches while rewatching “Star Trek: The Next Generation” for the millionth time can be exercise. Remember, it’s not about shrinking yourself down to a wraith who can fit into an overpriced garment designed by a company full of people too lazy and arrogant to make clothes for real humans- rather, it’s about building your strength and endurance up so you can crush the oppressive billionaire class- I mean, um, sleep better. Yes. That’s it.
Above all, be assured that even if Trump is not removed (and he actually might be- there’s still time for his enablers to decide that rich people jail would be less stressful than protecting a man who empathizes with a fictional mass murderer) there is still a way forward. The impeachment will have left an impressive paper trail that can be used against him in court after he leaves office, and he’ll be far more vulnerable then.
Even in the most nightmarish scenario where he “wins” again (AKA takes advantage of the fact that no one will admit to themselves just how much of their political understanding is shaped by memes they saw but never fact-checked) life will still go on. We can still fight for our rights at the state level. We can still protest. We can still vote for a House and Senate that will resist Trump, and we can still do good in our own communities.
Because when Trump is gone (and he will be eventually- the man is not immortal) there will still be greed and selfishness in this world. There will still be racism and misogyny. There will still be business men who can’t seem to grasp that their stupid cars and yachts won’t matter if there’s no clean air or water.
But we’ll be there too. And we can fight back. We’ll have had a lot of practice.
Sing Into The Void 