The challenge is to make sure we see what\u2019s the same and what\u2019s changed. I rarely give financial advice, because things are so different now than when I was younger. For example, once I got out of college and started working a professional job, I got an apartment that was nice but hardly luxurious. The rent was 17% of my gross monthly income. I just did a quick search for similar apartments and estimates on starting salaries for industrial engineers. Today that same apartment would cost 26% of the gross salary of someone like I was then. Plus I didn\u2019t have student loans, for a variety of reasons, most notably because state governments used to fund higher education at a significantly higher rate than they do now.<\/p>\n
The point is that while experience can be very helpful, if you do the same thing now as you did 20 or 10 or even 5 years ago, you may not get the same results \u2013 because the game has changed.<\/p>\n
And that brings us to the point of this post.<\/p>\n
My final regular post for last year was titled Just Keep Moving<\/a>. It\u2019s what I heard from the beginning of the pandemic from Cernunnos, from the Morrigan, and from all the other deities I honor and worship. And really, I\u2019ve been hearing it since the beginning of Tower Time in 2016<\/a>. Just keep moving. Keep working, keep doing spiritual practice, keep building relationships. Keep your head down, do what you can do and don\u2019t worry about what you can\u2019t do.<\/p>\n This was easy advice to follow. It\u2019s how I got through a difficult childhood. Keep going to school, keep making good grades, keep a low profile, and keep visualizing going away to college<\/a>. It\u2019s how I got through my job from hell in the mid 1990s. And on a brighter note, it\u2019s how I went from starting a blog to becoming a published author and someone who teaches at Pagan conferences.<\/p>\n \u201cJust keep moving\u201d is experience-based wisdom that has served me well throughout my life. That doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s always going to be the right approach.<\/p>\n And I just realized I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve heard Anyone tell me \u201cjust keep moving\u201d all year.<\/p>\n \u201cKeep your head down and don\u2019t worry about the future\u201d made sense in April 2020. We knew so little about the pandemic and we had no idea what changes it would bring. We had no idea how the U.S. election would go. And although you can argue we should have known the political changes that would be coming once regressive politicians realized the courts were no longer going to stop them from trampling the rights of anyone and everyone, most of us didn\u2019t. I certainly didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n In April 2022, it\u2019s time to start making long-term plans again. The pandemic isn\u2019t over, but the time for lockdowns and other societal restrictions is, at least in the West. China and some other Asian countries are still pursuing a \u201czero Covid\u201d policy \u2013 they have levels of central control we simply don\u2019t have in the West, particularly in the United States.<\/p>\n We can debate whether that\u2019s a good thing or a bad thing. We can debate whether we should keep masking indefinitely. But such debates are mostly irrelevant. For better or worse, our societal decisions have been made. The only question left is how each of us will assess and manage risks for ourselves.<\/p>\n To be clear, I do not argue that\u2019s the right choice. But it is the choice, and so it\u2019s what we have to deal with.<\/p>\n I\u2019m going to do my best to elect progressive candidates in this year\u2019s mid-term elections. And where I can\u2019t, I\u2019m going to do my best to elect moderates and less-worse Republicans. I hope I\u2019m sitting here this time next year talking about progress with court reform, mass repeal of anti-choice and anti-trans laws, and an end to gerrymandering. I\u2019m not giving up.<\/p>\n But I do not think that will be the case, and I no longer believe \u201cwait and see\u201d is the best approach.<\/p>\n Part of this is history. The party that controls the White House almost always loses seats in the mid-term elections. Joe Biden\u2019s popularity is quite low right now \u2013 how much of that is his fault, how much is the fault of Manchin and Sinema, and how much is unreasonable expectations is another matter. I hope the horrible legislation coming out of Texas, Florida, and other red states will finally persuade moderates to get out and vote. But I\u2019m not optimistic.<\/p>\n Besides, I need to do something now.<\/p>\n Fellow Denton Pagan and good friend Cynthia Talbot spoke at Denton UU on Sunday. In a very emotional sermon on choice, she said \u201cwhen people have no choice, life is almost unbearable.\u201d She\u2019s right. One of the reasons I argue so strongly for free will vs. fate is that when we think we have a choice \u2013 whether we do or not \u2013 we\u2019re more likely to do the kind of things that will make our lives better.<\/p>\n Seeing things going the wrong way is hard. Feeling like we have no way to correct them \u2013 at least not quickly \u2013 is even harder. But that doesn\u2019t leave us with no choices. Our options may not be what we want them to be, but we have options.<\/p>\n As always, options and opportunities are not equally distributed. Those with more money, better health, and who are less directly impacted by regressive politics have more. Those with less money, worse health, and who are more directly impacted by regressive politics have fewer. But almost all of us have some options, some choice, some things we can do to make our lives better: safer, less stressful, more pleasant.<\/p>\n I cannot and will not tell you what you should do, lest I sound like one of those people who wonder why young folks don\u2019t just go get a nice apartment for $340 a month like they did 40 years ago.<\/p>\n I will say that while every choice and every decision doesn\u2019t haven to be made now, the time to wait and see is over.<\/p>\n Or at least it is for me.<\/p>\n In the philosophical battle between optimism and pessimism, I consider myself a pragmatist. Hope for the best, plan for the worst, and expect something somewhere in the middle.<\/p>\n So I\u2019m projecting where things are likely to go: politically, medically, socially. What\u2019s the overall environment going to be like?<\/p>\n And then, what about personal things: my health, my paying job, my relationships, my local groups?<\/p>\n Now, given that this is all likely to be worse than I\u2019d prefer, how do I want to respond?<\/p>\n How can I make things better for myself and my family, both my family of blood and my family of choice?<\/p>\n How do I want to live?<\/p>\n This requires meditation. And probably some divination. Working magic is easy, but figuring out what to work magic for is hard.<\/p>\n Then there are targets<\/a> to set. Progressive workings<\/a> to plan and execute. And perhaps most importantly, hypersigils<\/a> to build. I\u2019ve mostly managed to stop building the wrong hypersigil I wrote about last year, and one of the good ones I\u2019ve been building for some time is still progressing nicely. But I need to rethink another one.<\/p>\n And I need to do it quickly.<\/p>\n Because I\u2019m too old to wait and see. And even if I wasn\u2019t, I\u2019m in no mood to suffer any more and any longer than I have to.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2022\/04\/rock-in-creek-04.16.22-01.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cJust keep moving\u201d worked for a long time<\/h2>\n
Some decisions have been made for us, regardless of what we think of them<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2022\/04\/tree-04.16.22-02b.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nRemain an engaged citizen, but politics won\u2019t save us<\/h2>\n
Free will, not fate<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2022\/04\/tree-04.16.22-01.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nHow can you make things better for you and yours?<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2022\/04\/trail-04.16.22-01.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n