California
When it feels like everything is imploding, turn toward geography.
Woke up this morning to a horrible, gut-stabbing text about Virginia. Then saw this …
It’s awful.
I’m not gonna try and sugarcoat it, or make people feel better, or spew some Rachel Platten anthem. What is happening, right now, in the United States of America is nothing short of a kidnapping of democracy.
I know this sounds naive, but for much of my life I believed in the ultimate goodness and decency of people. Like, yeah, you’re a conservative Tennessee congressman. Yeah, you like Donald Trump. But no way would you strip Memphis (a city that’s uber liberal and 65-percent Black) of its governmental representation. Right, like nobody would ever, ever be that awful?
Right?
Right?
Sigh.
So here we sit. An absolutely evil man as president. A bunch of spineless, access-to-power-consumed losers surrounding him. Judges who can’t even admit the results of the 2020 president election. Corruption, power, authoritarianism, cruelty. It’s all right there; all bubbling to the surface; all a harsh reminder that—no, the ultimate goodness and decency of people is not a guarantee.
So how do we, the Truth OC community, survive? How do we manage?
For me, it’s one word: California.
Beautiful, amazing, awesome, liberal California.
I love this state. I love this state’s politics. I love the ocean. I love the hiking. I love driving along the Pacific Coast Highway. I love a breakfast burrito at the Orange Inn. I love hearing the birds, seeing the blooms, catching an Angels game for $5 (seriously—five bucks!) and sticking around for the fireworks. I love the expansive parks, I love the sunsets, I love my neighborhood.
I fucking love California.
And if that means, for my mental sanity, I sometimes have to divorce myself from the United States of America … from the racism of Tennessee … from the ignorance of Alabama … from the gluttony of Mar-a-Lago … from the efforts to wipe out progress …
If that means I sometimes have to remind myself that, in many ways, my nation is California; my people are Californians; my heart is here, my love is here …
… well, that’s OK.
We live in America.
But, right now, I am a Californian.
PS: In the comments, tell me stuff you love about the state. Please.
I love that I can see snow-capped mountains while sailing in 72 degree sunny weather surrounded by dolphins in freaking FEBRUARY!!
I love how much the air quality has improved since I was a kid. I remember staying indoors because of smog alerts, when the air was too dangerous to breathe. The last one was in 2003. Decade after decade, our air has improved because of our laws and determination.