Does everyone have pent up hairballs or is it just me? Job security, pensions, investments, health, home ownership, and people’s moods are just a few hairballs in the air.
What’s up? The cost of groceries, hip replacements, the divorce rate, homes owned by banks, violence in the media, animals without care, the 1 percent owning most everything, rental prices, people with anxiety, depression and sleep disorders .Then again, the price of gas is up and down. Are we upside down?
On the same day that the bank hints that I may be able to keep my home I hear about a friend losing their job. Later in the week I gathered that several couples are separating after many years while another pair is going to Hawaii. I’m envious and glad for my friends having fun, they worked hard for or inherited some bottoms up and bubbly times. We all deserve to feel up.
But, let’s get down. I had an appointment this week with Medicare to learn about it. I walked out of there, eyes bobbing and scared. I was prepared for some of the information, but much of it was frightening. If you’re poor, Medicare can cover crisis and if you own a million dollar home but have no money in the bank, you get covered. Just don’t get squashed in the middle – you pay up to $300 a month for coverage – that’s a lot if you can’t find a job or live on social security. In shock, I held in my hairball, hair flying out from the sides of my head, I shut down. The terror of having no money is embarrassing.
Last week I overheard a woman at the post office saying that her payment on taxes was over $10,000 while she is out of work. She whispered, “Why are we little people getting hit so hard?” How will we live? How can we work harder, over 60 with no job market on our way towards aging and dying?” I went home, curled up in ball, feeling overwhelmed and frozen inside. Thank God friends took me out that night with hairballs flying everywhere.
The ups and downs of life now are mind boggling. People are turning to everything from prayer and family to downsizing and flying to Europe for a last blast. What is the solution to a world in trouble? A record 46 million Americans were living in poverty in 2010, the highest number since 1993, and it’s not getting any better (according to “The Guardian Weekly.”) In fact, 60 percent of older women can’t afford the basics. (Womensnews.org 2012) People are hoping or holding their breath. What are we going to do?
I try to keep my writing upbeat but how to stop a downwards spiral? Or, do we need to hit bottom? How are we going to rise up? More conversations and possible solutions are emerging. As Joanna Macy says: “Everyone at some level feels distress over the world’s future…We all have a lot to say to each other – once we break through the fears and taboos that keep us silent. In the process of communicating, the change occurs; new ideas and new visions arise.” (Despair and Personal Power in the Nuclear Age)
But, right here in Sonoma County, according to the Redwood Food Bank, one of every five people in Sonoma County is affected by hunger (Indiemedia.org, Fiona Foster, May 2012.) The county 2011 homeless count shows a 40 percent increase in the number of homeless people since 2009.
So, what to do? I believe that connecting in community and conversation is the beginning of change. We need to stick together. So, getting up, speaking up or doing something is better than going down.
Isolation, shame, helplessness or attacking each other won’t work. Involvement and concern, in great numbers is essential and the Internet enables a far-reaching ability to communicate. As Howard Zinn, famous historian said, “Change comes about when millions of people do little things…which at certain points in history come together and then something good and something important happens.” (“A People’s History of the United States.”)
Speak up.
Katy Byrne, MFT Psychotherapist and author, “The Courage To Speak Up, Hairball Diaries.”
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