No matter how old you are or where you live on this planet, there is no way to escape the effects of the raging dissonance of our culture, which has become so pervasive that it is now considered mainstream.
And before I proceed, a caveat…I am not talking about red vs. blue politics, or even about the man who currently resides in the White House, per se.
I’m talking about what he has come to embody, a mindset and set of prejudices that have been germinating for decades, generations even, and have come out of the closet, so to speak, on his watch. In the Age of Trumpism, so many of the historical horrors that we had assumed had been laid to rest for eternity have been resurrected and normalized in this toxic environment.
My beloved USA, the one I grew up with in the 50’s and 60’s, was a land of opportunity that thrived on an equitable distribution of the wealth. She used to be the standard bearer for tolerance, peaceful co-existence and a higher social consciousness for the rest of the world to emulate.
John McCain’s recent passing, and the week-long national remembrances of his greatness, with all of his flaws and attributes on display, took me back to those days when I was proud of my country and all that She stood for. I was proud to be an American. I did not necessarily agree with McCain’s politics most of the time, truth be told, but I respected the man…his honor, his integrity, his decency and most of all his unfathomable heroism.
Sadly, I am having to struggle to even remember all the glowing eulogies in his honor that took place so long ago…what was it…a week? I think that just about says it all. The darkness is descending…winter is coming…
And that’s where my commitment to live a life of simplicity, spirituality and forgiveness gets challenged. Daily. Even moving to a bucolic paradise in Central America wasn’t enough to escape the ugliness that has transcended the human collective experience. Where neighbors dissemble and annihilate community unity for no greater good than to feed their own ravenous egos. Where passive-aggressive insecurities are masqueraded as self-righteous vindication of some alternative truth.
The macrocosm of Trump’s world has been teleported to the microcosm of a small expat sanctuary to create a world where lies, bullying and slanderous insults no longer have to be whispered behind closed doors like they were in more circumspect times. In this new world order, you can actually see the multiple daggers as they whiz through the air and lodge in others’ backs. There is no escape from Trumpism, no matter where you live.
Living in toxicity, whether you live in paradise or elsewhere, is challenging, but not impossible. For our spiritual sustenance, we continue our commitment to suppport local entrepreneurs with guidance and tutelage so that they may grow and help support themselves and their families for a better life. They learn to expand their skill sets so that they can then help others on their way up to success. We’re in a second generation of this model, and feel blessed to be the catalyst.
One anecdote that sticks in my head about an expat’s position on feeding a local laborer fish rather than teaching him how to fish. “Why would I do that,” she said. “He’d just demand more money or leave my employ.”
My social network in the States used to be huge when I was a mover and shaker in Hollywood, then a business owner with my husband, serving several regimes in the White House, the Olympics and countless multi-national corporations. But what we live by and understand as our truth is that those experiences do not define who we are…they simply empowered us to become better and more enlightened people. We just operate in a much smaller, more selective cosmos now. Energy is a powerful conductor of good and evil, so we very consciously filter out all that does not serve our higher power.
Long story short, meditation, travel and the pursuit of creative endeavors that enrich our lives as well as the lives of others is how we survive in the Age of Trumpism. Even in a tiny little enclave in Costa Rica.
Pura vida
Sep. 8, 2018
Judy Richter 