Don't Shut Up

In a previous post, "On The Turning Away," I referenced a Pink Floyd song. It's a good one. Written in 1987, it is no less spot-on now. Why don't we listen the first time around? This seems common. Here are some of the lyrics:

No more turning away
From the weak and the weary
No more turning away
From the coldness inside
Just a world that we all must share
It's not enough just to stand and stare
Is it only a dream that there'll be
No more turning away?

It's why I say over and over again, don't shut up. Those that spread lies don't shut up. They keep talking until their lies become truth. We're polite, so we back down. We don't want to argue. We don't want to seem loud or inappropriate.

What has this gotten us? Frustration and abundant stupidity. Misinformation. People who don't know and don't care. It's time to change that.

So what if there are some who think we are rude or don't want to listen to us? It's not for them. It's for the people who don't have a voice. It's for that person on the side who hasn't had the courage to speak up and maybe thinks they've been wrong this whole time until they hear you, you - speaking up, saying exactly what they have been wanting to say but were scared. Next time, because of you, they may be able to speak. Or the time after that. We speak because it's the truth and the truth should be spoken. The truth should be shouted from the rooftops.

The stakes are too high, the risks are too great, the losses are too unfathomable. Don't shut up. We can't. It's up to us. There's no one else. So we sound a little crazy. (Crazy people, incidentally, don't shut up either.) We may sound like conspiracy theorists. Again, so what? When the shit goes down, at least we can say we tried.

Let me say that again: At least we can say we tried. Don't shut up.

Here's a link to a version of the song if you want to check it out, with the lyrics listed, I highly recommend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojf18wT_Xtk Love the album art, too.

Do Not Go Gentle

It has been suggested that it is time for women to gently move to the fore. I think this can be credited to the super-amazing Jane Goodall.

She's an inspiration. She is wonderful. But this is incorrect. The time for “gentle” is long past.

I think of Dylan Thomas' poem, "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" - especially that last line, "Rage, rage against the dying of the light." But, on from there, I think of the movie "Back to School," in which Thornton Mellon, played by Rodney Dangerfield, was asked by Sally Kellerman's character to say what that poem meant to him. He replied, " It means, I don't take shit from no one." I love that. Hell, I love that silly movie.

People try to tell me all the time that I have to be gentle with my ecological message. That I'm too aggressive. Angry. That love prevails. That I need to speak with love and kindness. 

I have little patience for that. We are running out of time. Obviously, the gentle crap isn't working, because I am not seeing any improvements. None. We're still over-consuming, we're still wasting resources and everything else, we're still worrying about conveniences rather than consequences. I do not see an end to it. I am told that more people will listen to me if I say it nicely. Screw that. There are plenty of people talking nicely. I believe I shall rage instead. It's my real voice. We'll file it under the "Hear me now and listen to me later" file.

I'm just full of pop references today! You get the point. Everyone has a voice - their own voice - in comedy you "find your voice" and that's when you succeed. I know what my voice is and I shall be true to it. Gentle loving crap can come in after we've torn down the shit. I am not the gentle voice. I am MotherNature's warrior. And I don't take shit from no one.

That could be a really great mantra.

Our light is dying. Seriously. We are killing our ability to live on this planet, we are killing our light. We HAVE to put the brakes on, or Nature will do it for us. If Nature has to do it, it won't be pretty. There will be a lot of suffering of the innocent. So, it's time to rage.

Who's with me? This Atypical Chick is going gently no more.