Many times I have emerged from an art museum seeing the world totally differently than when I entered. We all know a simple mood change can reset our outlook. And mental illness produces severe distortions such as paranoids believing the world is out to get them when everyone is in fact ignoring them entirely. Or, of course, love.
Since printing we’ve had to deal with at least two realities – that of the ‘larger’ world and our own local one. News lately has focused on the sensational – crime and disaster. Cable news began to focus on singular scenarios. And now we can spend our lives immersed in worlds only manifest within computer screens .
Most notably, the Republicans claim that we live in a dystopian country. Cities are burning, if you notice before you are shot or cannibalized. Foreign hordes sweep up from the border like Mongol hordes of old, looting and burning all in their path. Evil bureaucrats spread all their time assuring that the good people will be cheated of their rightful wealth and respect .
And then we open the door and in our local reality (unless we are mentally ill) the sun shines, people smile, and we enjoy the greatest security and standard of living in history .
The world will always have problems. Some of each our lives involves tragedy and misery. But there are different worlds about us if we simply reset our outlook once in a while .
HuntingtonHarborThoughts 