Faerie magic—Goddess witch spells—with Francesca De Grandis

 Ah, here’s a true goody: the internet nurtures independence for crips; despite being a shut-in, I can have a store because it is online. 

Okay, this is getting long for online reading, but there’s virtue in an occasional rant. Moving on, our overall use of social media does not bode well. We could have used it to engage in thoughtful dialog open to all. Think global town meeting. Instead, we’ve re-created—and augmented!—ol’ fashion mob mentality. Think Salem’s witchcraft trials gone viral—knee-jerk accusations ruining lives, mass hysteria driving decisions, slanderous gossip masquerading as high moral ground.

I could argue that social media’s contribution to political activism is amazing. But exceptions that prove the rule existed even in Neanderthal times. When other guys were clubbing women on the head and dragging them to caves, there probably was one fellow painting cave walls to lure a female to his abode.

Social media could be a chance to leave mind-numbing television and its corporate messages. Instead, we use social media for the same escapism and big-business ads. I do this myself, sigh, drug myself by traveling online until I’m numb and dumb.

Social media is an oxymoron, emphasis on moron. Does anyone who follows the tweets of celebrities who don’t follow back understand the “social” in “social media?” Celebrities post identical jokes and recommendations for the same pieces of jewelry. Clearly there’s a company writing their tweets. I’m not saying they’re wrong to do this. They’re busy folks. My point is, we had a choice, and these are the uses we’ve made of technological progress.

I cannot stop my rant, my inner debate. Please hang in for some last points: Democracy might be a sign of evolution. But when America’s European settlers freed themselves from England, all they did was get rid of the word “royalty.” We still have rulers, people wealthy to the point of royal insanity whose carelessness of the general populace is just as insane.

While poor and a lot of middle class cannot afford healthcare, American royalty have enough expendable income to spend thousands and thousands to go into space for a purely recreational trip. The brutal disparity between the haves and have-nots continues unchecked. And if this is our use of tech, have we changed since the caveman?

But I need hope. Maybe the only thing that matters is hope for—and belief in —humanity’s potential.

My belief in human’s ability to evolve spiritually as individuals and as a society is enormous. That is why I’ve devoted my life to being a spiritual guide for over a quarter of a century. 

I want to think we’ve improved. I want to believe that all the hard work of Buddha and Jesus and other spiritual greats, that all the dedication of scientists, that all the prayers, chants, and sacrifices of mothers, fathers, and soldiers, that all the courage of risktakers like Martin Luther King Jr, that all the visions of mystics, poets, and painters have helped the human species become better as a whole. I guess it is up to me, to be better, do better, make better choices. And up to each of us.

And finally, my inarguable proof of improvement is hot buttered popcorn. So I refuse to research whether it is a new invention or existed since Romans. Onward!
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More rants are in Share My Insanity, available on Amazon. The book challenges many hurtful ideas accepted even in the alternative community. We can evolve, but not without admitting our individual and collective faults.