Resolution for the New Year

 

As we wrap up this very strange year, 2021, with so much great unknown yet looming, I allowed my old brain a few minutes of reflection centered around starting the new year fresh with a resolve to do something. Not sure what.

Then my brain shifted to this age of great delusion and how easy it is to fool the masses. Especially in this digital world where most of what you see or read is either half truth or out and out lie but we have been so conditioned everyone not only knows this, they accept it, joke about it, and still believe the lies anyway. It's a conundrum for sure. 

Then I thought about what made me so cynical about where we have landed in this moment in modernity. It comes down to my long standing preference for what is true over what is fake.

In the early 2000's, for several years, I was not only a participant but also a moderator for a forum that was started in 1999 as a place for Y2K preppers to exchange info. Over time, and after the world did not come to an end, folks just stayed and long distance silent/digital friendships continued on. As is normal with humans, ups and downs of daily life were shared and encouragement and advice offered, just as in normal, in person, friendships. So, it seemed real. 

But, it wasn't. It was essentially just a pleasant illusion/past-time. Though liars can be convincing in person, typed words can more easily mask what one truly feels and thinks and  thus who one really is.

But the day I realized this was after a series of things happened within the setting of the forum. 

First, one Saturday we hosted a silly event, a fake wedding between two members, where a scenario was set up and everyone participated by contributing crazy gifs and pics. It was hilarious until something odd was posted and it revealed that those two members might not be who they claimed to be and mysteriously they never posted again, at least not with their known avatars. It was very strange - as in gov-alphabet-troll strange.

The second thing that happened was when a huge storm hit my area and caused a lot of damage though not where I lived. I logged into the moderator's area and saw one of the members had posted a comment of how worried she was about me given all the damage reported in the national news. "Worried, worried, just worried sick," she lamented. 

I thought, really? Given that we knew each other's email (email was still the preferred contact method back then) my first thought was, if I had seen news of storm damage in her area I bet I would have sent an email checking on her instead of posting a sound-good sentiment in a forum.

At that moment my eyes were opened and I could see it was all unreal. It wasn't genuine friendship. At least not the kind of friendship I think of as being real. The kind I have with flesh and blood relationships. I decided I didn't have time to participate in the illusion anymore and I soon and quietly signed off. No drama or farewell.  My suspicion was soon confirmed - not one email of inquiry about my absence came. 

Apparently, as demonstrated, in the Matrix when part of the illusion disappears it is not missed.

Lesson learned - when I recognize that something is not real or even if I am not relevant in a group think situation I am not the least bit shocked or offended - I'm just gone. 

I conclude that one does not have to be trapped in the Matrix, if you learn to pay attention to the small details, the incongruities, the glitches, however tiny, you find you can choose better what your next best step will be. It is so easy to maneuver humans into believing what they see is authentic, especially given the pervasive acceptance of CGI and Photoshop being as good as reality. But that's not the scary part - reality is somewhat over-rated now even as virtual reality is embraced as the next great thing. That's truly frightening.

Unfortunately illusion can never be real and therefore cannot be sustained. All it takes is a noticeable glitch in the Matrix or someone brave pointing out that the emperor is, in fact, naked.

Or the liars/magicians keep contradicting themselves and changing the illusions until no one pays attention anymore. Humans are easily manipulated but also, like toddlers, they are easily bored too.

I couldn't think of a new year resolution so I offered a a prayer for 2022 instead:

Dear Lord, deliver us from evil, protect us from tragedy, and grant us grace because we mostly don't know what we are doing. Open our eyes to the truth. 

For Him,

Meema