CORPORATE HOSE JOB

Bend over and grab your ankles because the corporate monster wants your ass.  Don’t even think about being wined and dined; you’ll be lucky if you can manage to get your pants off in time.  The business of the United States is business, so assume the position.

And you can stop the liberal kaffeklatsching because your voice was silenced years ago.  Nobody cares about your rights.  All that fluff about the Constitution is nothing but that:  a pile of fuzz meant to distract you from the menial work you’re obliged to perform. 

You mean you didn’t notice the shackles around your feet?   Look down.   They’re the shiny happy ones with the Wii trademark embossed on the side.  Keep jumping and buying, my little serf friend, because you’ll never get off this farm.  And neither will your children or your great-grandchildren.  

You’ve amassed such a huge pile of debt that indentured servitude is your only option.  Consider yourself lucky; if you weren’t needed to keep that grist mill turning, you might be sweating it out in a debtor’s prison.

Oh, wait a minute… this is a debtor’s prison.  It’s just the extra-large house arrest variety with the flip-top work release option.  They think of everything. 

But don’t worry; everyone’s plugged into the same matrix.  As long as you’re kept doped and exhausted, who cares if you’re pimped out to the highest bidder?   Besides, even if you wanted recourse, to whom or what would you appeal?  There will be no one to hold sleazebag corporations accountable and they know it.

So relax and enjoy it.  You might find sitting a little painful, but that’s all by design.  Time is money and loafing around in chairs is counterproductive.  Remember… you’re a team player now.

COURTESY AND OTHER TRASH

 

Why is courtesy the first thing jettisoned in intimate relationships?  Is it the dynamic of the thing itself which fosters it, or do we simply feel safe enough to behave like complete idiots?

I have often wondered why politeness is reserved for strangers, but not extended to loved ones.  It is the daily grind whose gears require greasing; so why hold out?  Do we honestly expect the mechanism to run if it’s not properly tended?

If we do, then we know as little about loving relationships as we do car mechanics… which tends to explain why we’re more devoted to our vehicles than to each other.    I suppose it’s easier to love an inanimate object, no matter how broken down and unreliable, than one who habitually criticizes your wardrobe, table manners and take-home salary.

Then again, if confronted with a beligerent stranger, would you just as readily acquiesce to their demands?  Of course not.  You’d tell them to mind their own affairs and butt out of yours. 

So why do we lie down and take it from those who’ve promised to love, protect and cherish us?  Shouldn’t they be our greatest champions?  All things being equal, we only share our life with others; we are not beholden to them.  There is no good reason to tear apart the person you love most just because you’re in a bad mood.

Yes, we all have rotten days that challenge us to the nth degree, but that does not give us license to indulge in willful and juvenile behavior.  If you find yourself angry enough to belittle your companion, perhaps the person with whom you are truly disgusted is yourself.  It’s said that we are all but mirrors to one another; if this is true, then acts of incivility do not end with tears from our partners, but tears from our own eyes.

ENSNARED

Never have I faced an adversary so fascinating… or formidable.  Though I wear a brave face, my knees buckle when he’s around and I have to hold onto the table.   It takes a lot of effort to curb my mind from wandering into forbidden territory.

He won’t admit it, but I know he’s cast a net and pulls it a little tighter every day.  I can feel it drawing close, channelling me down into the lion’s mouth where he’s patiently waiting like a man assured of victory. 

I’m constantly amazed by his unruffled demeanor.  If he shares my agitation, he hides it well behind eyes that look like the south Atlantic.  Only once did they betray him and it led to my undoing.

And now I’m willingly caught in the snare, but loathe to move until he pulls away the netting and resuscitates me.  Until then, I float in suspended animation, neither living nor dying, waiting only for that moment when all that is within me bursts forth and showers down like rain.

SELF IMAGE

I looked into the mirror yesterday and wasn’t sure who or what was looking back at me.  The face seemed familiar, yet I was unacquainted with this particular woman.   She was unusually confident with a definite air of mystery, as if a secret was hiding just behind her eyes.

It caught me by surprise.  I normally avoid looking at my reflection unless absolutely necessary because, like most females, I fixate on imperfection.  This time, however, the face held her ground, mocking my criticism and challenging me to look beyond the surface.  Could it be that this person might actually be a friend?  I’m not sure what alarmed me more, that I could be friend to myself or that I hadn’t been such in decades.

To thine own self be true.  I’ve heard it a million times, but it always seemed shopworn and more than a little selfish.  Haven’t I also been programmed to put others before myself?  Both notions are in opposition; which do you choose?

I chose neither, leaving myself free but rudderless.  Sometimes I’d fluctuate madly between the two, trying to reconcile them, but it only led to frustration.  How could I embody the best of both worlds if neither occupied the same space?  It was like being voluntarily torn asunder.

Why was I playing it safe?  Did I think I could hedge my bet by avoiding allegiance?  In my zeal, I must have forgotten that abstaining is also a choice, one that doesn’t necessarily free me from accountability.  Like the many thousands of voters who fail to turnout on election day, my lack of voice influences the outcome just as severely.  Who was I kidding? 

Apparently no one.  And somewhere along the way, the choice was made and the die cast.  I looked back at my new friend and thanked her for steering me to safety even though I had let go of the wheel long ago.

THE CONFESSIONAL

You think you can keep it secret.  You can shove it into the darkest recesses of your mind and pretend you don’t care.  You can feign indifference and try to look away.  Maybe you’ve even tried to force yourself to accept the dreariness of your lot.

But it won’t last.  If you think you can outwit the inevitable, you’re mistaken.  Eventually, you’ll have to own the turmoil that rocks you and realize that it’s only its refusal that troubles you.

So what do you do when the love you’ve sought all your life comes to call?  Throw yourself on its mercy and pray it will overlook your foibles?  Keep it waiting at the door because you’re inconvenienced?   Curse the day you picked up your first romance novel?

The real question here is why do you insist upon playing the innocent?  Are you completely oblivious to the creative role you play in your own life?  It’s a mystery why people are astonished when the thing they most desire arrives on their doorstep.  Perhaps what they truly want is not the outcome itself, but the yearning.

Maybe it’s easier to secretly anticipate failure.  In that way, one isn’t challenged to own personal power or to deal with the gritty reality of sharing intimate space with another person.  My friend Daniel, a glib but oddly reserved man, recently started dating a woman whom he described as ideal.  When I spoke to him last week, he told me that he had abruptly ended their acquaintance because it was too good.  It was only after a stulted conversation that I realized that it was not the lady to whom he objected, but to the tsunami of emotion triggered by her arrival.

We have somehow learned to equate love with the magical elimination of all problems.  And in essence, we are right; love will correct all errors, but that process is never easy.  Love is relentless.  It will shed its harshest light on your sickest secrets and force them into the open, where they may be addressed and neutralized.

You cannot take a seat at the banquet if you are already filled beyond capacity with fear.  Will you let love transform you, taking you far beyond the limitations of your finite mind, or will you settle for the scraps that fall from the grown-ups’ table?

OPENING PANDORA’S BOX

Does anybody really know what’s inside themselves?  Curiosity might lift the lid, but it’s the scary stuff within that prompts us to close it.  However, just like the evils that Pandora inadvertently loosed upon the world, we can’t force our own back into the box.

Self-examination ain’t for sissies.  All the nasty little behaviors that we are quick to spot in others are usually roosting within ourselves. How else would we recognize them?  I’ve often wondered if the reason we are quick to condemn others is because we secretly know we’re guilty of the same and want to punish ourselves in effigy.

Better someone else than me, right?  The only problem with that line of thinking is it rarely, if ever, delivers you from misery.  It just prolongs it.  If you know that you’re capable of low behavior, you can’t unknow it by passing the blame to another.

Why then is the process of redirecting so difficult?  Are we really so cowardly that we cannot face the truth?  Just yesterday, I listened to my neighbor complain about her wayward boyfriend.  Within the avalanche of angry tears and words, not once did she acknowledge her own hand in the events.

Nor did she mention the years of co-dependent behavior that fostered it.  Instead, as do we all, she focused solely on the perceived wrongdoing.  When I gently reminded her that she was free to walk away, she was appalled by the suggestion.  It seemed, despite her loud protests to the contrary, she was content with the degradation and almost reveled in it. 

Is that all there is, sacrificing ourselves, our lives and our happiness just to prove a point?  Is this a competition?  If so, what’s the prize?  It must be a good one, judging from the volume of people participating, captivating their limited imaginations like so many of the viewers of Dancing with the Stars.

Eventually even that mind-numbing opiate won’t conceal the task you’ve left unfinished.  If you think you’re itching now, just wait.  No amount of scratching will put it back into the box; you’ll have to face this one head on.

DERAILED

Sometimes the best laid plans go awry. 

I should have known that avoidance wouldn’t work, but after some serious soulsearching, it was my only option.  Being the catalyst for radical change wasn’t the role I wished to play, so I decided to put as much distance as possible between he and I.  Maybe it only forestalled the inevitable, but I was determined that no one would suffer by my hand.

Least of all myself.  It had become a torment to be in his presence and yet not part of it. I hated being caged and forced to behave like a good moralist.  But the circumstances were beyond my control and there was no point pining for someone unattainable, so I turned away.  It didn’t matter that he sought to bind me to him by unconventional means; I could dismiss those ethereal ties and walk unfettered without him.

Or so I thought.  I tried to distract myself with friends and new acquaintance, but they only served as a reminder and that mystified me.   It was his story coming out of other mouths, his eyes gazing from other faces, his quirks demonstrated by other hands.  It was as if I was being shadowed by a thing I could neither acknowledge nor confront.

It only stiffened my resolve.  I persevered until I was nearly home free, interacting in the moment with as much raw honesty as I could muster.  I was only steps away from complete liberation when the portend of a dream brought everything to a halt.  A freight train derailed in a broadside collision with a speeding passenger train, the boxcars crashing in every direction and my sifting through the wreckage for survivors.  The only one I found was shellshocked and no longer recognized me.

I knew what it meant, but I didn’t want it to be so.  Was this my reward for acting in good faith?  It troubled me and I couldn’t go back to sleep.  He was beckoning in such a visceral way that I could no longer ignore the summons.  So I answered the call and wasn’t in the least surprised when all my carefully laid plans suddenly imploded that very afternoon.

DECONSTRUCTION

You might as well pick your side of the bed because you seem to spend a lot of time in it.  I think you’ve taken up permanent residence because as soon as I drift off, I can almost feel you crawl in next to me.  And there you stay, haunting my dreams until I wake up exhausted.

For a while your appearances were so rare, I thought you might have deserted me.  But you were only hanging back, chastened by discovery and slightly dismayed that I was fully aware of your presence.  Did you think I was insensitive to the ebb and flow of your thoughts?  They are as apparent to me as waves upon the sand.

Perhaps it unnerves you to be that vulnerable before me, but all I perceive is beauty and passionate yearning so tangible that I’m never quite sure if I’m awake or dreaming.  And when you greeted me last night, with so many kisses that I lost count of them, the pretense was gone and you were so relieved by its absence that I thought you’d break me in two.

I wonder how long you will keep me company in this dimension.  Some think it’s just a harmless pursuit, locked in the privacy of the mind, but I know otherwise.  Intention dropped into the pool of action sends endless rings before it and there will come a time when the heat from your innermost desire will rise up like a flame and consume us both.

WAKING AND DREAMING REALITIES

I absolutely did not want to get out of bed this morning, being caught up in a dream so vivid and sensual that I wasn’t sure where I was.  When the alarm sounded, I wanted to throw it across the room for daring to interrupt.

Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t return to that moment.  It was like a soap bubble that once punctured could not be remade.  But as fleeting as it was, the effects are long term.  I am, hours later, still plagued by vision and deep-seated longing.

It would be easy to dismiss this as an act of the overly-imaginative, but why?  Is the activity of the subconscious mind unimportant?  Or does its non-linear nature disturb us so profoundly that we disregard its messages?

Granted, it’s difficult to reconcile two seemingly disparate factions.  If your waking and dreaming minds are at odds, then your behavior must be tailored to the medium in which you operate.  Clearly, we cannot move from one impulsive act to another without carefully weighing the consequences, but dreamstate eliminates them.  You are free to act from the deepest part of self, exploring scenarios which otherwise might be off-limits.

And was do your secret activities say about you?  Are you repressed and only able to express creativity and emotion in the privacy of your own head?  Or, are you problem-solving and making sense of your life through strange metaphor?  More importantly, how have you integrated what you’ve learned into your life?

If you’re like most people, dreams are just pleasant (or occasionally terrifying) diversions to which you attach no significance.  Think of all the dismissive commentary that comes to mind.  It was just a dream.  Just ignore everything and learn to mistrust yourself.  Go back to sleep.  Like that will make a difference?  There are no such things as monsters under the bed.  They only exist in the bed, and are usually parked next to you.

Worse yet are the condemnations of the uplifting dreams.  It’s just a pipedream.  Happiness is only for the stoned?  You’re dreaming your life away.  I thought I was devising ways of making it better.  You’re just a dreamer.   True, but only if I believe that the sole measure of success is that obtained by mindless adherence to corporate principles and the utter disregard for the soul’s yearning for truth.

I’m not going to limit myself and pick through the crumbs offered by external reality.  I’ve seen no evidence that living by its code unifies the world’s inhabitants.  Much to the contrary, they are being slowly ripped apart and devoured by the same entities that promise deliverance.  I will not add myself to the feast.

If that makes me a dreamer by default, so be it.  I accept my lot and embrace the happy dreams that both waking and sleeping provide.

VIRTUAL AFTERMATH

The café door blew open and she rode in on a gust.  “You’ll never guess what I did today!”

There’s no telling what Suzanne will do, so I played along.  “You joined the circus?”

She giggled and threw her purse onto the table.  I had to grab my latte to prevent it from capsizing.  “No, silly!  I broke up with Neil!”

“Who?”

“You remember him, Kimmy, don’t you?  He’s my virtual boyfriend.”

Apparently, she was still capable of surprise.  “You gotta be kidding me…”

She continued, oblivious to my response.  “Nope.  I told him flat out that it wasn’t working for me and that I didn’t want to see him anymore.”

“You told your imaginary boyfriend whom you’ve never seen that you no longer want to see him?”

I didn’t think it was possible, but she answered without a trace of guile.  “Yeah, he just wasn’t there for me…”

She waltzed up to the counter to place an order and I wondered if she had finally lost her marbles.  Suzanne is a formidable business woman and one of my dearest friends, but her romantic sensibilities are questionable at best.  I vaguely recalled a discussion of her latest paramour, but she didn’t refer to him by name; nor did she mention that he wasn’t quite real.  The mystery was almost starting to intrigue me. . .

. . . until she plopped into the seat opposite me and started a litany of his alleged offenses.  “You know, if I had known that he’d be so unreasonable, I would have never started up with him!  Did he think I’d carry the weight of all this by myself?”  She took a sip of espresso.  “And I thought I really knew him. . .”

I didn’t bother concealing a smirk.  “So, how did the two of you meet?”

“In Cannes,” she sighed.   “Remember when they sent me to cover the festival for that art rag that folded last month?   Well, we met in the press room one night and that was it. . .”

“You’ve never been to Cannes.”

“. . . at least I thought that was it until he turned into a complete absentee.”  She stirred her coffee thoughtfully for a moment before looking up suddenly.  “Kimmy, you don’t think he’s a player, do you?”

“Who, the invisible man?”

“I’m serious,” she said, indignant.  “What if I was just one of many?”

I patted her hand.  “If there were other women, I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it; they’re probably fictional as well.”

GIRLY GIRL AND PROUD OF IT

“You throw like a girl.”

At first I took offense.  “You mean my trajectory and spatial skills are not up to par?”

“No, I mean you throw like a girl,” he said, dramatizing the statement with a limp flip of his wrist.

I almost wanted to cower and issue an apology for being the wrong gender.  Fortunately, I quickly recovered and walked off the field after bestowing a digital flip of my own.  If he wanted a tomboy to help him perfect his curve ball, then he shouldn’t have asked the lady in the slinky dress and spike heels.

Since when did femininity become a liability?  Contemporary mores dictate that the modern femme fatale should be a unique hybrid of classic womanliness and macho swagger.  Who made up these rules?  Being a woman is difficult enough without the added burden of being a man as well.

I don’t want to be a man.  If I did, I would have had a sex change years ago.  Instead, I happily accept my XX assignment and furthermore, I’m going to shamelessly revel in it. 

Why should I feel inferior if I can’t throw a ball or pee standing up?  I don’t know many men who feel ashamed if they’re unable to walk in heels or nurse a baby.  I simply refuse to buy into the argument that the attributes of my gender are lesser.

But then, I never thought it was necessary to compete with men.  There’s no need for hostility if both parties have equal footing.  And although I can appreciate the male drive for competition and dominance, I am not obliged to adopt them.

Why would I?  The full expression of my own sex is wonder enough.  It surprises me then when I’m asked (by women, no less!) why I bother to dress up.  Invariably my questioner is festooned in boy clothes -tee shirt, sweat pants or jeans- and resentment.  The implication being that I must be on the prowl because no woman in her right mind would wear anything else.

Maybe gals do primp excessively for the benefit of men, but I’ve been playing dress-up without cease since I was 4, and able to clunk around in my mother’s stiletto boots (with the rabbit fur trim!).  Were my efforts done solely for an imaginary male audience?  Doubtful.  I just loved to swath myself in ladies’ acoutrement and dream of the day when I could wear them without hearing the patronizing remarks of well-meaning, but clueless adults.

I’m still waiting.  Just last week a colleague questioned my wardrobe, chuckling as he remarked how previous contractors had never strayed from shapeless hospital scrubs and orthopedic oxfords.   “Boy, you sure like to get gussied up,” he said, giving me the once-over.  “Are you sure that you can perform your job?”

Although I patiently explained to him that my decision to wear a summer dress under my lab coat would in no way hamper my ability to think and behave rationally, I had to suppress a strong urge to smack him upside the head.  Just because a lady likes to use a powderpuff,  it does not make her one by association.

It would be a mistake to judge the girly girl as a pushover.  Her femininity does not replace common sense, but enhances it.  Only a woman who is confident and comfortable with herself, and not a stereotyped or dictated version of self, has access to unlimited reserves of strength.  Not the superimposed variety hawked by men and fashion, but the unwavering type that grows exponentially in the presence of truth.  It may not be truth of all womankind, but for those who feel an affinity, it is.

THE WAITING ROOM

I’ve been here so long that it’s beginning to feel like home.  What is it about interminable waiting that makes it so irksome?  The tedium?  The powerlessness?  Or knowing that you’re being shaped for some unknown purpose?

It’s been said that patience is a virtue, albeit one that is not terribly popular.  In a world of instant gratification, it’s difficult to cheerfully bear the passage of time without thinking about loss.  Shouldn’t it be put to better use?

But I often wonder if the tasks we undertake in the interim are just distractions.   We can persuade ourselves that the mindless job at hand is important and needs to be done.   But we’ve done it so many times that it’s rote and before we can stop it, we’re already daydreaming.

Are we so desperate to escape the monotony that we’ll invent virtually anything to keep us occupied?  I used to think that patience was the hallmark of the the weak-willed, but after having been recently forced to it, I realize it takes steel and a considerable amount of perseverance.  It’s a lot easier to run off and indulge in a whim than to exercise self-discipline and wait until conditions change.  Easier, that is, until you discover that your premature action has jeopardized the goal and you’re left with nothing.

So what do you do?  Push the envelope and risk a lifetime of regret?  Or, take your lumps now and wait until your objective is realized, happily spending the rest of your life free of the pangs of conscience?

DYNAMIC TENSION

 

What’s to be done when the life you want is not the one you’re living?  Do you spend your time daydreaming of an alternate reality or take the steps necessary to realize it?

I have often heard that people are reluctant to change because they fear repercussion.  It could be argued however, that change occurs whether one is embracing it or not.    The real question is for whom are you living your life. . . .for yourself or for something or someone else?

It’s not such a strange notion.  When we are young, our dreams are big but unfocused.  They are usually linked to the expectations or karma of our families, and it’s not until we’re much older (and hopefully wiser) that we regain control.  But by then, we are so entrenched in habit that we fear starting again and just resign ourselves to fate.  This makes for an unhappy lot of adults who yearn for fulfillment, but are loathe to part with the familiar.  Over time, they forget that it was choice that shaped them, and their inherent joyfulness begins to fade.  They assume the mindset and physical form of the aged and bury themselves in distraction until death releases them from any further obligation.

But it’s never that easy.  Death will not discharge anyone from responsibility;  it can only delay it.  If there is a reason why you are slow to make change, consider the arguments against it.  It is not the repercussion of others that you should fear, but the enormous toll your own procrastination will levy.

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING IN THE WORLD

…is when you lie beside me and I can forget myself for a few hours.  I don’t want to think about all the tasks that await me, or the insurmountable obstacles that ring you like a barricade.  Instead, I want to dissolve, losing all sense of myself in a kiss that goes on for days.  Can I reach the very bottom of it or will it wind languidly on a never-ending trip, leading me to parts unknown but still strangely familiar?

It doesn’t matter because I will board that train and take it to the end of the line.  The uncertainty of the future doesn’t frighten me nearly as much as the possibility that it could be lost and never realized.  Why should I fret about the inconsequentials?  They shall be swept away, for I have seen what lies beyond and nothing save self-doubt can sabotage it.

What an exquiste surprise this journey has become.  I’m captivated by the beauty and complexity of its design, and thrilled that I no longer have to take the helm.  I only have to acknowledge that I’ve been chosen and then to participate wholeheartedly.

Is it the joining of you to me that is the end, or is it representative of my missing pieces coming together in joyful reunion?  It has been said that love cannot manifest between two if it does not first exist independently within each one.   If this is true, then my happiness is magnified a hundredfold for I know with absolute certainty that no matter the outcome, I shall be upheld.

THE DEEP END OF THE POOL

Have you ever been faced with an insurmountable problem and known that the solution lays at the bottom of the abyss?  It’s there, ripe for the plucking, if you can muster the courage to jump into the unknown.

Of course, what choice do you really have?  You can stay in the miserable place that has you trapped, or you can venture beyond the frontier.  There are no guarantees as to what you’ll find in this unexplored country, but that’s what all leaps of faith entail.

A cushy landing… isn’t that what we all expect?  A miraculous resolution to the problem that pushed us into the leap and assurance that not only will everything be all right, but that the new conditions will yield answers and unending happiness.

Perhaps that’s what we all seek:  a tidy solution to our mess.  The only problem is our conflicts usually involve others, and people always seem to have their own idea as to what is acceptable.  No matter how hard you try, you will never completely convey your idea to another because they do not have your particular perception.

The manner by which we view the world varies wildly, even among the like-minded.  At best, we hope for affinity and mutual respect.  However, most of us want more, a kind of soul-level understanding that is beyond human ability.  We want delirious love without condition, but are incapable of it. 

Why, then, do we insist upon asking the impossible from our partners?  Are we trying to avoid our responsibility, or the guilt when we discover that the love we seek is not of this world?  As much as we habitually make individuals the center of our private universe, we tear them apart when they fail to deliver.  It might be pre-emptive anger.  Better to strike first than to be found wanting.  At least when you’re on the offense, you don’t have to explain your own shortcomings.

But that’s only a temporary fix.  Eventually you will have to acknowledge that the blackhole in your soul is of your own making, and that everyone is struggling with the same disease.  It’s only when you realize that all of us are in the same boat, that you can develop a sense of true compassion. 

We are not alone in our delusions.  They assume different shapes, as unique as snowflakes, but they are all the same in essence:  expectation based on attachment to outcome.  But to what are we really clinging?  If we tie ourselves to fluctuation, then we will bob and weave with the motion.  No one person can steer you to safety if he/she is at the mercy of the same conditions.

Better to anchor one’s self in the unchanging, even if that decision requires a leap of faith so monumental that it scares you to the core.  Will you let your life be guided by fear, or will you resume control of it by surrendering control?

NEW WORLD ORDER

What is the measure of a successful relationship?  Longevity?  Progeny?  Mutual respect?  A stunning real estate portfolio?  I recently put the question to a number of people and their answers were revealing.  Instead of finding contentment in the classic template of our parents and grandparents, most chafe under it and yearn for something else.

The majority of those polled admitted that old-fashioned gender roles were dissatisfying.  Men said they were more befuddled than ever.  Ladies complained of the unfair burden placed upon them.  It seemed that despite the feminism they embraced, they still shouldered the bulk of the domestic chores.  Helen Gurley Brown was wrong; you can’t have it all … unless you’ve managed to clone yourself.

Judging from the response of both camps, it seems this frustration is mutual.  Why then do we insist upon using a formula that no longer serves?  Are we hardwired for this division of labor, or have we evolved to a level where we must reevaluate and consciously change our behavior?

Assuming that we’re capable of real change, where would we begin?  Pitching the whole thing and starting from scratch?  Pruning a few dead branches from an otherwise healthy tree?  A slow replacement of the unworkable with the untested?  If we have learned anything from experience, wholesale legislation rarely works …especially when venturing into the minefield of civil liberties.  People rarely part with their dearly held beliefs, even if they are self-defeating.

So we remain trapped, unwilling to change yet stymied by inertia.  Is it any wonder that we’re enraged?  The real question is with whom are we truly angry, our hapless companions or ourselves.

VISITING HOURS

 

 

I dreamt about you again last night.  It was one of many I’ve had since that evening you impulsively dropped your guard and let me see inside your soul.  Did you think I had forgotten? 

How can I when your nocturnal visits have become habitual?  Rarely do I close my eyes and sink into dreamless black sleep.  Instead you hover nearby and grow bolder with every appearance.

I thought the first dream was a fluke, a crazy patchwork of people clamoring for the attention that you paid only to me.  They stood in disarray, unable to break the orbit that we spun.  And I wondered, even as it unfolded before me, why you had so quickly assumed a role in my subconscious.

Or why, with each subsequent dream, you move ever closer.  From across the room to my side…  from standing motionless behind me to holding me, as you did last night, like a prisoner in your arms.  Not that I wanted to escape, I wanted to relish the confinement and remember every detail of how we fit together.

As if from habit, you stood so close that I could feel your breath against my neck and your lips against mine.   But you never said a word.  There’s no need to speak because I know exactly what you’re thinking and what you want.  You have become transparent to me.

It’s curious that at night, when all is quiet and freed from constraint, you grant yourself leave to indulge. And you can’t get enough, can you?  You are like a man starving for the connection that only the muse can provide.

THE HIGH MAINTENANCE WOMAN

You know who I mean.  She always enters a room fully expecting to be feted.  She routinely inspects her appearance discreetly in every reflective surface, but takes no pains to conceal her contempt of others.  She’s always flipping her hair and gauging reaction from the corner of her eye.  God forbid another attractive woman occupy the same radius!

No one commands the petulant quite like her.  If a stamp of her (exceptionally well-shod) foot doesn’t snap you to attention, she’s always ready with a barb designed to shrivel your manhood.  If she launches it in public, so much the better.  Nothing smacks of true love more than humiliation.

If you can’t satisfy her every demand, be certain that a queue of the willing are just behind.  You are only a means to end, but you don’t really mind, do you?  It’s a small price to pay. 

The appeal is irresistable.  For every man decrying the dwindling numbers of respectable, date-worthy women, there are two fighting for favor of the bitchy ones.  Who wants a loving woman to keep the home fire burning, when a dismissive tempermental one is ready to burn it down?

Not that her temper assures you of any heat in the bedroom.  More often than not, she’s a cold fish… but damn!  Doesn’t she look bodacious in that Victoria’s Secret thong?  Maybe you’re not getting laid, but all your buddies will think you are.

It’s all a matter of appearance, not substance.  But who cares about substance?  Better to be the envy, not the pity, of the boys down at the Legion.  They can have their pick of the wallflowers… you’re going home with Miss September.

REVISIONISTS, UNITE!

Don’t be caught with your pants down!  Deny everything.  There’s no crime in backpedalling and re-imagining the facts; it’s the most popular pasttime in the US.

Just think of the possibilities. . . reconstructing entire years of your life, alternate explanations for your behavior, re-assignment of fault, disposal of responsibility. . . don’t they just make your mouth water?  Finally, you can take charge and repaint yourself in more favorable light.

Gone are those days wasted in brutal self-examination.  Instead, think of yourself as a practical impressionist, sketching wildly imaginative self-portraits, each one crazier than the next.  Who cares if it’s a mess of indeciferable colors and themes?  A statement that bold and unintelligible is sure to delight art circles.

No longer will you languish, a prisoner of conscience.  Throw it all away!  Take up your rightful place as a member of the guerilla narcisissists and pledge to defeat all idealogues.  Those namby-pambies make us all look bad; aren’t you just sick of their convictions?  No doubt that when we have routed them by our sheer numbers, they will recant and enlarge our ranks.  It’s up to us to force them to eschew the Middle Way and to adopt proper self-seeking, without which we might never identify the bad from the goody two shoes.

And when you’ve finished slashing your way through the facts, when your friends, family and colleagues are all scratching their heads, stop and observe all you’ve accomplished.  Relish the skewed vision and destruction left in your wake.  These are the moments that only the truly self-absorbed can appreciate.

OPEN YOUR EYES

You’re not fooling anybody.  Do you really think you can maintain the status quo by pretending not to see the mess in front of you?  What kind of twisted logic has brought you here . . . the type that conveniently fits into your preconceived delusion, or the one that completely excuses you from interacting with others?

No, I’m not talking to the idiot standing next to you.  At least that poor soul had the courage to own his actions.  What about yours?  Are you planning to let them lay and deny all responsibility? 

I don’t blame you if you do.  What could be more disheartening than unpleasant personal discoveries?  The shock alone could set you back and rekindle your appetite for self-destruction.  What a naughty creature you are!  says that voice, spinning round and round in your head.  Maybe you ought to follow its advice and indulge in a few more destructive habits.  You’ve earned the moniker, haven’t you?  Might as well live it, too.  Who could fault you for giving in to temptation?  Self-pity is such a succulent fruit.

Go ahead. . . pick it from the tree.  I won’t tell anyone.  They’ll have to torture me before I reveal your secret.  But then, I’d rather face an entire panel of interrogators than the one to which you’re forced to listen.  Your Grand Inquisitor is more devious.  What could be more fiendishly effective than using your weakness to his advantage?

Consider the bait.   You’re given a glimpse of what lies beyond and it fills you with joy, the kind you have rarely experienced since becoming an adult.  As you reach for it, you’re suddenly snared in a net of your own making.  All your self-doubts, malingering ties and paralyzing fears converge and render you powerless.  The more you struggle, the tighter the mesh becomes, until at last,  it squeezes the last breath from you.  You curse your captor, blaming him for your plight, but all he does is laugh.  He’s done virtually nothing, except watch you strangle yourself.

VIEW FROM THE CHEAP SEATS

It may not look like much, but from where I’m sitting, it offers the best view in the house.  There’s something to be said for observing one’s life without paying admission.  Who wants to pay inflated ticket prices to watch mayhem?

Look at the infield.  There is so much delusional refuse littering the ground, the game really should be suspended.  There’s no way the players can conduct themselves safely without risk of bodily injury.  But then. . . who doesn’t love blood on the field?  It’s not really cathartic if the game doesn’t reflect the bloody mess inside.

What?  Another penalty?  At this rate, everyone will be sitting on the side lines.  These are the most unruly players ever!  I don’t care if my stats are impressive; how am I supposed to live a normal life when all these characters are juiced and out of control?

Oh, I see they’re rioting in the bleachers again.  Those drunken fools don’t even care about the game.  They’re too busy schmoozing to notice.  It’s just as well really. . . if I had to factor in their dissent, I might be tempted to throw a few punches myself.

On second thought, I just may accept that offer from AT&T.  Running this asylum is a thankless job and it’s bleeding me dry.  The fans might call me a corporate sellout, but what do I really owe them?  Do I exist solely for the amusement of others?   When did I decide that spectators had a greater stake in my life?

Today, they get the boot.  I don’t care if they complain; I’m sick of the defaced walls and gum under the seats.  And furthermore, they can take those jacked-up players with them.  Maybe the mob can beat some sense into them; I never could.

AGING MATRONS NEED NOT APPLY

 

Hideous creatures, aren’t they?  Why not herd them up like landfill waste and bury the lot?  At least we will be spared the visual assault.

Oh, don’t bother protesting!  You might be able to convince the liberal neighbors with your self-righteous opinions, but you can’t fool me.  You’re revolted by the sight of aging women and frankly, I don’t blame you.  Sagging flesh should be a felony offense.   Concealing it beneath Spanx and push-up bras is false advertising.  Women should have the decency to remove themselves from the market once their charms have faded.

What’s more nauseating than women who don’t know their place?  By now, it should be obvious that their roles are limited and they ought stick to the rules. . . if they know what’s good for ‘em.   It’s just too bad, isn’t it, that they continue to prance around like teen girls.  Haven’t they looked in a mirror lately?  No one in their right mind would confuse them with properly attractive females.  What a pity they haven’t learned to stop flirting; they are a public embarrassment.

So what if the only jobs left to them are charwoman, nursemaid and breadwinner?  They should be grateful to have those!  Someone has to pay the bills and clean up.   And while we’re at it, why don’t we cut out their tongues?  Then we won’t be subject to their endless complaints.  Who wants to hear the whining and bitching of an old hag past her prime?  Not me!  I’d much rather listen to the empty stories of male prowess; they’re so much more riveting.

THE ISLAND

It’s beautiful, even idyllic, with mountain peaks overlooking aquamarine water. Tradewinds blow, songbirds twitter and waves lap against pure white sand.

It’s perfect, like Eden with dense green foliage and abundant fauna romping in the meadows and hillsides.  Sweet water cascades from springs and at night, when all is quiet, the stars are so close that you could reach out and touch them.

I saw it from afar and was mesmerized.  It was the most inviting place I had ever seen and more than anything, I wanted to go ashore and stroll the endless beach.  

“Not allowed, I’m afraid,” said the captain.  “No one is permitted to land.”

I asked why and he shrugged.  “Desecration.”

What an odd response.  But then again, old sailors are a bit superstitious.  We slowly circled the island and I memorized every detail.   The swaying palm trees seemed no different from the many I had seen before.  The sun above shone equally upon my head as it did upon the land.  There appeared to be no celestial favoring, or at least none that I could detect.

But the island was strangely sentient.  Was it just a trick of my eyes?  It seemed entirely self-sufficient, a biosphere free of the violation of man… or woman for that matter.  And as I sailed around its coves and bays, I realized that it existed perfectly of its own, without outside interference, and I could bring nothing of value to it. 

Perhaps in theory I could thrive indefinitely within its confines, but what could I give in return?  It lacks for nothing and my arrival would only upset the balance.   I felt the rejection as keenly as that of a lover.  

My sigh drew a chuckle from the captain.   “Now you understand,” he said with a weary smile.  “Desecration.”

COMING FULL CIRCLE

 

Another year has come and gone.  Am I supposed to mourn its passing or celebrate?  The usual protocol doesn’t apply anymore.

How should I behave now that I’ve officially arrived at this milemarker?  Like a giddy teenager?  Like a cranky old woman?  I don’t have any reference points… or at least none that I really care to use.

I could pretend that old age and death are not a factor for me.  Wouldn’t be lovely to parade around in ‘tweenie clothes and shut my eyes to the inevitable?  Lots of wealthy and deluded matrons do just that.  Think of the host of 40 and 50-something celebrity women who are suddenly flooding the media with revealing photoshoots, fading stars flaunting their bikini-ready bodies in a last-ditch effort to prove that they still have it. 

It’s curious, don’t you think, that when we are young we go to extreme lengths to appear older and more sophisticated and when we are old, we’ll do just about anything -no matter how ridiculous- to appear young.   It seems we are never satisfied with just being. 

Not that I haven’t occasionally fallen prey to it as well, but I’ve long since dropped grown-up affectations.  There’s nothing glamorous or awe-inspiring in the smug and greedy attitudes of the common adult.  And what’s with all the anger?  So what if the world isn’t what you expected!  At least you have the good fortune to be alive. 

So, is it disappointment that drives us back to youth, or desperation?  I’m not particularly enchanted with the world either, but ignoring the reality doesn’t make it easier to bear.  No amount of Botox, plastic surgery or Pilates lessons will stop the wheel from turning.  It will eventually roll over your well-honed body and crush you back into dust.

And is that really such a bad thing?  Why live forever if you don’t really like living?

RUDE AWAKENING

 

Years ago, my father told me that I was over-idealistic, that I didn’t see what was obvious.  “Everyone has potential,” he said, leaning back into his chair and looking thoughtfully at the ceiling, “but few people actually live up to it.”  I wondered if all the years of working as an attorney had soured him to human nature.  He never really enjoyed it, although he always had a quick smile and a witty story to share.  “People can misrepresent themselves at will, sweetheart; that’s their perogative.”

At the time, I thought all adults were somehow the magical keepers of rational thought.  It worried me that the ones I observed were no better than the snotty kids from third grade.  To whom could I turn for a ruling or understanding?  If they all were tussling about for dibs on the monkey bars, there was little chance they’d offer reasonable explanations of the mysteries of life.

“If you measure yourself by the standards of those around you, then you will become no better.”  Why did Dad always make sense of the nonsensical?  “In the end, the only person you’ll have to answer to is yourself.”   He was right, of course, but it took me half a lifetime to concur.  The first half was spent hanging upside down on those goddamned monkey bars.

A DOORMAT BY ANY OTHER NAME

After witnessing the collapse of yet another friend’s long-term relationship, I wondered what all these women had in common.  Aside from shouldering the lion’s share of the work involved, it seemed that all of them were exceptionally giving and tolerant women.  Strange, then, that they were assigned the unfair moniker of fickle.

We gathered one night to discuss our mutual woes.  It was ironic that even after bolting, they were still concerned with the welfare of everyone else but themselves. 

“My priest says I’m going straight to hell if I don’t take him back.  Do you think he’s right?” 

I couldn’t help but laugh.  Only a celibate man would have the balls to make such a statement.  I asked her if Father Flannigan knew about her husband’s infidelities.  She confessed that he did, but advised her that since a man’s needs were so much greater and important than her own, she’d best turn a blind eye for the sake of the children.  Savvy advice indeed.  Of course he failed to mention than if she contracts HIV from her wayward husband, the kids will have to do without a mother. 

“I don’t want to be a single parent.  The kids need a father.”

Lots of guilty tears accompanied that one.   It seemed ironic that despite her remorse, she didn’t realize that for the last 10 years she has been the defacto parent while Mr. Right travelled the world.  She was absolutely correct; the children do need a father.  I suggested that she go out and find a suitable one immediately.

“I’m terrified of being alone.  Isn’t the devil you know better than the one you don’t?”

Sure, if you don’t mind selling your soul.  I couldn’t help but wonder why she rued leaving her alcoholic boyfriend.  Did she think she could love him into sobriety?  I thought that after his third DUI, she would finally gather the courage to leave.  Pity she waited until he actually broadsided another vehicle.  Now she can add the guilt of a stranger’s injuries to her list.

As the self-blame fest continued, it seemed odd that the shortcomings of their (now former) partners were not mentioned.  It seemed that no matter the circumstance, each woman assigned herself the responsibility of failure, a choice eagerly endorsed by their errant lovers. 

“Greg’s telling everyone that I had a nervous breakdown.”

Of course he is.  That way he’s completely excused for his behavior, assumes none of the responsibility and is free to commit the same blunders with another woman.

“Marv told the kids that I’ve become a lesbian.”

When all else fails, try character attacks.  It works on the campaign trail; it can work for any resentful dumpee.  Just describe the opponent in the worst possible light and then feign ignorance when grilled.   Simply blame those tear-filled, late-night calls to her girlfriends for any misconception, and walk away.  It doesn’t matter if her reputation is besmirched.  This is war! 

Now logic dictates that these behaviors are co-dependent.  A clear-thinking woman would notice it and make the necessary changes to keep her sanity.  But what of those who are so caught up in fixing others that they don’t even know the damage wrought to themselves?  My grandmother once told me that if you don’t want others to tread on you, you must stop acting the doormat.

Maybe it’s time to put the welcome mat into storage.

GEOGRAPHICALLY CHALLENGED

It was nearly three months since I last talked to Diane.  At the time, she was nearly giddy, just having met the man of her dreams on e-Harmony and spending every available moment on Skype.  She fell in love, and off the radar, into what I hoped was well-deserved domestic bliss.

So imagine my surprise when she called me on Sunday, interrupting my otherwise placid Mother’s Day luncheon with sobs and an urgent plea for advice.  Through her tears, she explained that Prince Charming had scuttled the new-formed relationship before taking it out to sea.

“He refuses to meet me,” she wept. 

“Uh, he refuses to greet you?”  It was a little hard to understand Diane when she was in the middle of a crying jag.

“No!  Kimmy, he won’t even meet me for coffee!”

I admit I was a little puzzled.  Had they had a lovers’ quarrel and the Prince refused to kiss and make up?  Apparently not, I soon learned as she hastily brought me up to speed.  It seemed that despite their torrid exchanges via webcam, they hadn’t actually met in person.

“He says I live too far away.”

It made perfect sense to me.  Why else would they lurk on Skype?  Romance is difficult enough without the challenge of distance.   

I tried to remind her of this as she bemoaned her fate.  “Didi, you can’t exactly meet at Starbucks if you live in New York and he’s in L.A.”

There was long pause.  “Kimmy, he lives only 20 miles from me.”

Oh, one of those predicaments.  I didn’t know what to say to her; it seems that even the most desirable women are not immune to the scourge of poor location.  Of what value are charm, grace and accomplishment if the lady at issue is not conveniently located?  It’s not enough that we must be attractive, fit, solvent, employed and sexually adventurous.  If we’re not within easy reach, we don’t merit the effort.

It’s a bitter thing for a woman to hear.  Nobody wants to be judged unworthy.  But esteem issues beg the real question here:  Just how lazy have men become anyway?

I remember one such fellow years ago.  After a few preliminary dates, he announced in a rather self-satisfied way that he was pleased with me.  Not because I was an interesting female, but that my apartment was conveniently situated between his home and place of work.  “Now, I don’t have to go out of my way to see you,” he said blithely.  Needless to say, that acquaintance ended badly.  If a man is determined to torpedo a budding or established relationship, all he need do is mention his partner’s lack of specialness.  The world is full of unremarkable people; to be lumped in among them is the kiss of death.

It was little comfort to Diane, who insisted that her life was over.  “This is worse than high school when my boyfriend dumped me for the head cheerleader,” she mourned.  “Her locker was right next to his.”

I agreed that his behavior showed an absence of vision, but cautioned her.  “Maybe he’s just not that enamored of you, Didi.  If he was, wouldn’t he move heaven and hell just to be with you?”

“Yeah, I guess he would,” she snuffled, “but only if hell was next door.”

HANGING IN LIMBO

I must stop thinking about him or I shall go mad.  It’s best not to dwell on things that are unreal.  Even a child knows when to stop pretending.

But I cannot help myself.  I don’t believe he knows just how badly I want him.  Or, how I lie awake at night aching with desire.  He’s never asked me how I feel or what I want.  Instead he keeps me suspended and I wonder how long this purgatory will last.

It’s enough to drive me out of my mind.  I don’t want to play the politely interested friend anymore.  Friends don’t torment each other with sighs and vague promises of heated coupling in the dark.  Yet he shows no inclination to make good on his word, and I’m beginning to despair that it shall never be realized.

This is a torture that no one should experience.  It’s a demanding and fretful creature that if not appeased soon, shall rip me apart.  I can feel it now, tearing at my flesh and goading me into arousal so acute that it’s almost unbearable.

I can do nothing to stop it; even my own body betrays me.  Never have I so intensely loved and desired another.  I didn’t think I was capable of passion this furious and deep, but yet I am.  It’s wild and without logic and I don’t care if it dashes me to pieces on the rocks.  I’d rather be fractured and bloodied than to have never known this bliss.

IN THE END, IT’S ALL GARBAGE

As I hauled my worldly goods to yet another transient location, I had to laugh.  There’s something poignant, but ultimately hilarious seeing one’s life distilled to a couple of trash bags.  What was I holding onto… a dream, a handful of possessions, my security blanket?  As I hoisted them into the car, I wondered just how important they were.

Here’s a garbage bag full of winter clothes, ready to be stored until the snow flies once again.  I’m tempted to stop by the Salvation Army and leave it on the doorstep.  But of course that means that I’ll have to pick it up and move it yet again.  Surely there’s some poor soul who can use these fleece pants and shirts until the frost forces me back into them.

I never realized how many pairs of shoes I have.  I feel like Imelda Marcos.  Is it just a girlie affectation, or does the poverty of my youth haunt me still?  I cannot wear all of these at once, yet the thought of losing a single pair fills me with anxiety.

Why do I hold onto these dusty books?  I’ve read them over and again.  Is there some bit of wisdom that I’ll absorb by proximity?  How many times can I re-read Pride and Prejudice before its plot no longer captivates me?  No, I think I’ll keep it;  for the first time in my life, I understand why Elizabeth Bennet was so defiant in the face of adversity.

I want to throw it all away and walk unfettered into the next phase of my life.  Can I arrive unclothed and unshod?  Or must I carry these possessions like a talisman against the future?

THE PLAYGROUND BULLY

I wondered how long he’d continue to harangue me.  After nearly two hours of pointless arguing, I hung up the phone and stared out the window.  Talking to a bully is not only exhausting, it’s an exercise in futility.

There was a particularly vicious girl who dominated the playground in seventh grade, a tall gangly girl with buck teeth and a bad temper.   She wasn’t especially bright or well-liked, but most agreed that that given her ferocity that it was better to be a marginal friend than an opponent.

Even the boys kept a wide berth.  She towered over the roughest, elbowing them out of her way in the hall, more swaggeringly macho than their overheated imaginations could conjure.

I observed her one day holding court after recess, handmaidens and toadies gathered ’round in concentric circles.  Suddenly, I felt a pity so profound, it caught me off-guard.  My teen self objected vehemently;  Surely she was the most loathsome creature ever to prowl junior high.  But yet this feeling wouldn’t budge and it forced me to watch her most closely.

True, she didn’t provoke the battles as much as wage them as a mercenary, usually acting as proxy to someone less skilled (and more cowardly) than herself.  She walked home alone after school, deserted by the throngs of admirers who kept her company during the day.  She never attended the dances or mixers and, other than to pummel them, was never seen in the company of a boy.

The truth was later revealed when I overheard her confiding the name of her teenage crush to a less-than-discreet companion. Within hours, the entire school knew and the object of her affection was mortified.  He loudly voiced his dismay, denying any and all romantic affiliation with the lady in question.

So I was more than a little surprised when I discovered her weeping behind a door in the gymnasium.  Wouldn’t it have been more in character had she sought out the cad and gave him a dusting?  Instead, she wept the bitter tears that only an adolescent girl knows how to shed, all her bravado dissolving into the wad of dirty Kleenex clutched to her eyes.

She seemed so terribly sad, so heartbreakingly lonely that I would have comforted her had I not been convinced it would lead to my doom.  Bewildered, I crept away to ponder the ironies that life was beginning to show me.  It was so much simpler when I was a child; things were black and white.  But those demarcations began to blur as I marched out of childhood into the storm of adolescence.  Who really is a villain or a hero anyway? 

I thought about that before I made my last phone call.  Maybe this real-life monster was only terrifying in his zeal to control the circumstances beyond his ability.  Perhaps the bluster, the unreasonable posturing were just his attempts to manipulate the outcome he dreaded.   Even so, how could two people diametrically opposed ever reach a compromise?

I let go of my own expections and dialed the number.  Before I could get a word out, he called for a truce.  Did he recognize the playground bully in himself and rue that he had driven away that which he loved most?  Maybe.  Or perhaps he was just as weary of fighting as me.