Life seems to have come back to normal in Sydney. But I know that it ain’t so.
You watch people, albeit less people, going about their business in the city. Having lunch in the sun, laughing, talking about the footy and Married at First Sight, talking about anything and everything but that which matters. Nothing about what just happened, the last two years, house arrest, face nappies, the injections, the “state of emergency” and setting aside of rights, constitution and the rule of law. Nothing about the family member with heart trouble or the sudden death of someone they know. Nothing about the ongoing tyranny in Melbourne or Perth. Nothing about anything that is real or that matters.
Michael Senger has resurfaced on Substack (thank God for that) and he opened his first article with this:
“And one day … you see that everything, everything, has changed and changed completely under your nose. The world you live in—your nation, your people—is not the world you were born in at all. The forms are all there, all untouched, all reassuring, the houses, the shops, the jobs, the mealtimes, the visits, the concerts, the cinema, the holidays. But the spirit, which you never noticed because you made the lifelong mistake of identifying it with the forms, is changed. Now you live in a world of hate and fear, and the people who hate and fear do not even know it themselves.”
– Milton Mayer, They Thought They Were Free
It’s about 90 years since Mayer wrote that observation about German society. He is describing today. It’s happened again.
Things seem back to normal, but the spirit is changed. It’s not the same place anymore.
My wife, in talking with her uncle in Holland, who doesn’t know that she is not jabbed, had to listen to him complain about all the selfish unjabbed in Holland prolonging the pain and suffering for everybody else. There is an invisible wall between them now. The spirit of a new normal.
A friend of mine, who managed to stay away from the jab (thanks to his wife) still walks around with a mask. I don’t say anything anymore, it’s all been said multiple times already. There’s that wall again.
I could go on…
What stories or observations do you have about the new, changed, spirit?
Apr 17, 2022·edited Apr 17, 2022Liked by Unbekoming
Yes, I think there is a new changed spirit for sure. Yesterday afternoon we (myself, husband and son) went to the movies (in Sydney). People are still walking around with masks on, and I tell myself not to judge as I look at the eyes of the masked faces, and try to shift to feeling compassionate instead. I find I’m still feeling an undercurrent of anger with all that has happened, and with the still lack of justice and exposure, and new reports of new variants coming our way. Has it really ended?
After the movie, I see signs posted up near the toilet and in the cinema foyer, re continuing to mask, and social distance at more than 1.5m. I feel a surge of anger, and ripped down the 3 signs, throwing 2 in the bin on my way out. What just came over me, as my heart thumped wildly? I don’t feel it’s over, even in Sydney. Very sad indeed then for Melbourne and Perth.
My husband doesn’t want to hear anything about it anymore, not that he ever did, much like many people I suspect - but I will never forget, and will forever be on guard from now on...
The 'invisible wall' image really struck a chord with me. I can't help but feel that one of these now exists between me and almost everyone I know. It makes me sad to think about it. But that's where we are.
Yes, I think there is a new changed spirit for sure. Yesterday afternoon we (myself, husband and son) went to the movies (in Sydney). People are still walking around with masks on, and I tell myself not to judge as I look at the eyes of the masked faces, and try to shift to feeling compassionate instead. I find I’m still feeling an undercurrent of anger with all that has happened, and with the still lack of justice and exposure, and new reports of new variants coming our way. Has it really ended?
After the movie, I see signs posted up near the toilet and in the cinema foyer, re continuing to mask, and social distance at more than 1.5m. I feel a surge of anger, and ripped down the 3 signs, throwing 2 in the bin on my way out. What just came over me, as my heart thumped wildly? I don’t feel it’s over, even in Sydney. Very sad indeed then for Melbourne and Perth.
My husband doesn’t want to hear anything about it anymore, not that he ever did, much like many people I suspect - but I will never forget, and will forever be on guard from now on...
The 'invisible wall' image really struck a chord with me. I can't help but feel that one of these now exists between me and almost everyone I know. It makes me sad to think about it. But that's where we are.