As you so ably point out we’re trapped in a world of delusional ideation. Buried at the heart of this is betrayal. So from a therapeutic or compassionate stance how do we support others in reaching satisfactory resolution without ourselves falling victims to this betrayal?
We must be strong enough to support those who labor under delusion until such a point is reached that we must move on for the good of all. By the time the deluded force our hands we will know. They will leave us no choice. Trusting compassion will take us a long way, but we all will face a tipping point they have forced. It won’t be pretty. Thanks for this. Betrayal is at the heart of this but those who understand what ‘s happening are born with broken hearts. We go on with our hearts broken and sing, drum, write about it.
Interesting you bring up betrayal, the article I am writing now focuses on betrayal as the primary reason for the pall of depression that has fallen upon many of us. Quite frankly I don’t know the solution, other than what humans who are not consumed with fear do in times of despair…love, care, hold, hug, gather, worship, play, dance, laugh, make music…
Looking forward to your post. The shaking off of this depression collectively will take concerted effort. Guess for me personally, especially with the help of my husband and some of our kids & grandkids, it feels like a choice. If we ourselves fall prey to betrayal & depression then how will we manage to continue to take a stand? If we all keep individually making a choice to embrace being together and celebrating when & where we are able then in time things should turn around. For us, it’s music, ironic humor, and being keen observers of the natural world, which sustain us.
Right on...thank you. If someone or something is secretly feeding you poison, the first action is become aware it is happening and that you are just not mysteriously getting sick, the second action is to expose that person/thing and stop them from poisoning you, the last action is to do what you need to do to heal yourself from being poisoned. I figure most of us don’t even know we are being poisoned...you and I do, and I suspect anyone reading our substacks do (we are preaching to the choir for sure) but there are quite a few who don’t. In my humble opinion of course. I love what you and your family do, and what you do with your writing. I think if I were living with a family who saw all this clearly (my wife is as hardcore in the other direction as I am in this one, so is one of my two sisters) I would be spending a lot more time and effort doing things like you do...thank you again.
Yes, it’s a cruel delusion we’re at the heart of. We have grown kids who embody these deceptions. It hurts most definitely. If we’ve learned anything at all about pain it’s that the key lies in acceptance, relaxing in the face of it and doing what we must do despite it. Can’t tell I was once a childbirth educator, lol.
I've come to believe that one of the fuel sources for the mass delusional psychosis (in addition to fear, which was the catalyst), is pathological narcissism. Now not only unchecked but actually encouraged and promoted as a virtue, excessive focus on the self and its perceived emotional needs appears to be sustaining the larger delusional illness. I see this expressed everywhere in Los Angeles, where I live and work. I will be writing more about this in my own Substack later this month.
Thank you Mark...so appreciate you showing up here! Of course an excellent point...I can see easier the manifestation of a global mass psychosis (cult psychology) and although I certainly do not disagree with you, it is more difficult for me to see a "mass NPD" manifestation. Can you explain a bit how that comes about? I can see it easier as a mass collective archetypal dysfunction...a deeper and deeper parental reliance as a narcissistic child believing he/she is entitled to be taken care of rather than find its own inner resources...is it anything like that? Thanks again, looking forward to your substack articles...
The narcissism isn't new, but it's been unleashed by government removal of established social boundaries. Here in the US, we've always had am ambivalent relationship with narcissism. Thinking highly of yourself is encouraged but disparaging others who are "beneath you" is not. Now, attacking others socially, financially, and physically is explicitly supported by government policy, media propaganda, and corporate position statements. This is a complex topic, but I do believe pathological narcissism has been fed by the government response to the pandemic.
Yes, this is a double edged sword. While busy disparaging others we fail to observe the major dilemma here. By focusing on making everyone else but ourselves responsible for problems and while viewing others as “beneath” us we simultaneously disparage ourselves. This is a basic cycle of unworthiness. It is self sabotage. And it leads to being trapped in abusive relationships.
an acquaintance of mine that fled war torn Bosnia told me that people there only began to wake up when they were starving to death. The coming food shortages (all by design) may be the splinter that is needed to put a crack in those under the mass formation psychosis spell.
Us pampered folks in the West are so far from experiencing that sort of destitution it would take quite a bit to strip us of our basic needs. We will break way before we begin to even imagine what starving is actually like...since it is easy to make us suffer, will that wake us up? Generally just because someone is mamby pampy and spoiled it doesn't mean they hit rock bottom that much sooner...rock bottom is rock bottom, and generally it is the same for everyone...when the acid in your stomach starts burning the lining because of no food. No sooner.
I am not sure what it will take, but as Will Rogers so aptly put it, "stupidity got us into this mess, and stupidity can get us out of it." It seems more likely something stupid will wake us up, not anything of any substance, not truth, not awareness and critical thinking, but something just as dumb ass stupid that got us into it...
Agreed but in my opinion human psychology isn’t always so resilient and thus resistant to succumbing to this sort of pressure. There is always “the better way” that we can aspire to, but we must always be willing to forgive ourselves to falling victim to such a formidable force. If the majority of us were aware of what is really going on my tune would (will) be different. The spiral I am concerned about is the spiral into complacency. Thanks for all of your comments by the way…I love what you are saying here.
Just trying to wake up this morning in the midst of attempting to see a way forward. If I’m convinced of one thing it is that many of us will survive this and will have to find ways of thriving. For the children.
I came across part of a message I sent to the mayor of my town almost 2 years ago— who has since passed away (Let the vulture-esque thoughts begin!)—- that I reflected on while reading your deep thoughts in your piece entitled ‘The Great Divide’:
“First of all, I firmly believe that mainstream media (including the CBC that I trusted and loved for decades…) have instilled fear and irrational thoughts in the minds of their viewers. Social media and other platforms have contributed negatively in the same way. The result has been that people see their fellow citizens now as potential threats to their health and well-being. As someone I read put it, ‘others’ are seen as ‘bio-weapons’ now. This is profoundly upsetting, and I don’t know how we ‘go back’ from this mentality? Certainly, asking to don a face-mask/shield in public (outside of medical/clinical settings) will not solve this conundrum. I am far more fearful of the future now compared to post- 9/11 —-mainly because of the reasons I will share, and society’s ongoing reaction to this ‘virus’.”
I won’t add more of the above letter, but was surprised how many of my concerns from back then came to light between 2020 and 2022.
Now, unrelated to the above—and since there is always hope— the title of your newsletter must certainly be linked to this fact:
“A shrew-like animal that snagged insects from ferns lining the shores of freshwater lakes 160 million years ago, might be one of the first "true" mammals to walk the Earth, back when the dinosaurs roamed, a new fossil suggests.” from ‘Skinny Shrew is Oldest True Mammal’, Live Science online
It’s gotta be great to be “true as a shrew”!
Thanks for sharing—- both to the author and the commenters on this newsletter. It often makes me feel sane again in a seemingly insane world.
Oh my I love all your shrew references!! You are a true shrew my friend, welcome to the club...I did not know these little gems myself..."Skinny shrew..." priceless. Thank you again for your insights!
Some tiny little rays of hope - a medical clinic which remains unnamed had only one employee unVaxxed. Over Xmas, COVID hit all staff but the unVaxxed.. the others are noticed and are starting to and wonder.
Dr. Julie Ponesse says keep pushing forward with the truth. She says when 10% of the people know it, the narrative crumbles.. we must be getting close!
100th Monkey....I do believe this could happen. But wow, the sheep I know have not heard of ANYTHING...what sheep knows about offices with only one unvaxxed employee who is the only one that doesn't get sick?? No one I know...yet I hear that all of the time myself...but no one else seems to...I have sheep friends that are STILL saying the ERs are overcrowded with the unvaccinated!!!
Yes, my spidey-sense was tingling right from the get go with all of this. It just all seemed so planned and co-ordinated and advanced all these New World Order objectives (to be rebranded as “Great Reset”).
What I also noticed right away was that there were no opposing viewpoints permitted. There were always two sides to the coin until lately. Suddenly news sources at opposite ends of the spectrum were in lockstep agreement on all covid decisions and mandates. I remember seeing an article in an online newspaper reporting on the astonishing fact that covid had resulted in the complete disappearance of the flu. I thought this must be some kind of satirical article but when I read it, they claimed that not only had the flu disappeared but that it was due to the fact that people were following the health guidelines! I noticed a comments section and I thought that surely someone would point out the obvious bullshit in all this. But it was a steady stream of “people” patting each other on the back for complying completely to everything like the good sheep they are. But I also noticed a number of comments that had been removed for offensive comments. This was the first time I had noticed the blatant censorship of opposing views. It is now common practice, even resulting in social media bans all the way up to assets being frozen or people being “dealt with” by authorities.
So what is one to do? Scream at the TV or monitor like that famous scene in the movie Network? For me, I have always found solace in listening to music. It can either calm me or further enrage me depending on what I think I need. It also means I have a vast amount of lyrics rattling around my brain. So this article brought me to my favourite album by my favourite artist - Hemispheres by Rush. The song itself takes up the entire first side of the vinyl album. At its core, it is about the battle between the heart and mind or love and reason. This lyric seems relevant to what you were discussing in the article about people being divided and struggling in this new dystopian world. Here are the lyrics for the section titled IV. Armageddon The Battle of Heart and Mind.
The Universe divided
As the Heart and Mind collided
With the people left unguided
For so many troubled years
In a cloud of doubts and fears
Their world was torn asunder into hollow hemispheres
Some fought themselves, some fought each other
Most just followed one another
Lost and aimless like their brothers
For their hearts were so unclear
And the truth could not appear
Their spirits were divided into blinded hemispheres
Thank you for the comment to my comment. I briefly checked out your profile and some of your articles. Very interesting stuff. I noticed amongst so many other things that you are a drummer so liking Rush makes a lot of sense. I wonder what you make of the recent passing of Taylor Hawkins, himself a huge Rush fan? The general consensus amongst the thinking people (or shrews as Todd calls us) I read is that it was definitely vaxx related. So I guess it was karma biting Dave Grohl for being one of the biggest vaxx supporters, being one of the first artists to step forward demanding that all who attend their concerts be fully indoctrinated. Such a sad loss really. He didn't want it. He was forced to by his "buddy". He had such an enthusiasm and lust for life. He was very much like a little boy living out his dream.
Anyway, it looks like I have more reading to do. I very much look forward to that.
I would like to write on Rush and many of their songs. Must wait until inspiration comes around on that one.
One of the best concerts was Rush in Los Angeles some years back. Have a son who is a drummer and Rush is his favorite group. Very technical stuff. Newly acquainted with some young drummers here in Nashville who seem tuned in.
Your comment about going to see them in Los Angeles reminded me of this doc of what turned out to be their farewell tour that ended in LA. It's a great doc that focuses on Rush fans. It's called Time Stand Still. Here is the write up on Rotten Tomatoes - https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rush_time_stand_still
If you want to bounce anything off me when you are writing the Rush piece, let me know.
Yes, other musicians have related Taylor’s death to the vaccine. The sadness we feel at his death hopefully may be used to further the positive, loving intentions of people like Taylor.
Karma of all kinds may well be a factor in all these deceptions being imposed by those who would control we the people. Music helps keep us strong in the face of all this. Thanks!
Very nice Mike...thank you again for one of your very insightful and heartfelt comments. You definitely have pegged my foundational thrust with nearly everything I write...I believe one of the primary things that have been purposefully eroded from our culture is our "consciousness of the heart"...this is evident in our consumersim, our loss of critical thinking (go figure, you would think that was "consciousness of the intellect" but critical thinking is dependent on intuition, trust, faith, etc....all of the heart) among other obvious behaviours and ways of being. Anyway, too complex to go into here! Thank you again for your participation in this discussion!
As you so ably point out we’re trapped in a world of delusional ideation. Buried at the heart of this is betrayal. So from a therapeutic or compassionate stance how do we support others in reaching satisfactory resolution without ourselves falling victims to this betrayal?
We must be strong enough to support those who labor under delusion until such a point is reached that we must move on for the good of all. By the time the deluded force our hands we will know. They will leave us no choice. Trusting compassion will take us a long way, but we all will face a tipping point they have forced. It won’t be pretty. Thanks for this. Betrayal is at the heart of this but those who understand what ‘s happening are born with broken hearts. We go on with our hearts broken and sing, drum, write about it.
Interesting you bring up betrayal, the article I am writing now focuses on betrayal as the primary reason for the pall of depression that has fallen upon many of us. Quite frankly I don’t know the solution, other than what humans who are not consumed with fear do in times of despair…love, care, hold, hug, gather, worship, play, dance, laugh, make music…
Looking forward to your post. The shaking off of this depression collectively will take concerted effort. Guess for me personally, especially with the help of my husband and some of our kids & grandkids, it feels like a choice. If we ourselves fall prey to betrayal & depression then how will we manage to continue to take a stand? If we all keep individually making a choice to embrace being together and celebrating when & where we are able then in time things should turn around. For us, it’s music, ironic humor, and being keen observers of the natural world, which sustain us.
Right on...thank you. If someone or something is secretly feeding you poison, the first action is become aware it is happening and that you are just not mysteriously getting sick, the second action is to expose that person/thing and stop them from poisoning you, the last action is to do what you need to do to heal yourself from being poisoned. I figure most of us don’t even know we are being poisoned...you and I do, and I suspect anyone reading our substacks do (we are preaching to the choir for sure) but there are quite a few who don’t. In my humble opinion of course. I love what you and your family do, and what you do with your writing. I think if I were living with a family who saw all this clearly (my wife is as hardcore in the other direction as I am in this one, so is one of my two sisters) I would be spending a lot more time and effort doing things like you do...thank you again.
Yes, it’s a cruel delusion we’re at the heart of. We have grown kids who embody these deceptions. It hurts most definitely. If we’ve learned anything at all about pain it’s that the key lies in acceptance, relaxing in the face of it and doing what we must do despite it. Can’t tell I was once a childbirth educator, lol.
I've come to believe that one of the fuel sources for the mass delusional psychosis (in addition to fear, which was the catalyst), is pathological narcissism. Now not only unchecked but actually encouraged and promoted as a virtue, excessive focus on the self and its perceived emotional needs appears to be sustaining the larger delusional illness. I see this expressed everywhere in Los Angeles, where I live and work. I will be writing more about this in my own Substack later this month.
Thank you Mark...so appreciate you showing up here! Of course an excellent point...I can see easier the manifestation of a global mass psychosis (cult psychology) and although I certainly do not disagree with you, it is more difficult for me to see a "mass NPD" manifestation. Can you explain a bit how that comes about? I can see it easier as a mass collective archetypal dysfunction...a deeper and deeper parental reliance as a narcissistic child believing he/she is entitled to be taken care of rather than find its own inner resources...is it anything like that? Thanks again, looking forward to your substack articles...
https://markmcdonaldmd.substack.com/
The narcissism isn't new, but it's been unleashed by government removal of established social boundaries. Here in the US, we've always had am ambivalent relationship with narcissism. Thinking highly of yourself is encouraged but disparaging others who are "beneath you" is not. Now, attacking others socially, financially, and physically is explicitly supported by government policy, media propaganda, and corporate position statements. This is a complex topic, but I do believe pathological narcissism has been fed by the government response to the pandemic.
Yes, this is a double edged sword. While busy disparaging others we fail to observe the major dilemma here. By focusing on making everyone else but ourselves responsible for problems and while viewing others as “beneath” us we simultaneously disparage ourselves. This is a basic cycle of unworthiness. It is self sabotage. And it leads to being trapped in abusive relationships.
an acquaintance of mine that fled war torn Bosnia told me that people there only began to wake up when they were starving to death. The coming food shortages (all by design) may be the splinter that is needed to put a crack in those under the mass formation psychosis spell.
Us pampered folks in the West are so far from experiencing that sort of destitution it would take quite a bit to strip us of our basic needs. We will break way before we begin to even imagine what starving is actually like...since it is easy to make us suffer, will that wake us up? Generally just because someone is mamby pampy and spoiled it doesn't mean they hit rock bottom that much sooner...rock bottom is rock bottom, and generally it is the same for everyone...when the acid in your stomach starts burning the lining because of no food. No sooner.
I am not sure what it will take, but as Will Rogers so aptly put it, "stupidity got us into this mess, and stupidity can get us out of it." It seems more likely something stupid will wake us up, not anything of any substance, not truth, not awareness and critical thinking, but something just as dumb ass stupid that got us into it...
Falling victim ourselves to this sort of spiral into despair isn’t going to help.
Agreed but in my opinion human psychology isn’t always so resilient and thus resistant to succumbing to this sort of pressure. There is always “the better way” that we can aspire to, but we must always be willing to forgive ourselves to falling victim to such a formidable force. If the majority of us were aware of what is really going on my tune would (will) be different. The spiral I am concerned about is the spiral into complacency. Thanks for all of your comments by the way…I love what you are saying here.
Just trying to wake up this morning in the midst of attempting to see a way forward. If I’m convinced of one thing it is that many of us will survive this and will have to find ways of thriving. For the children.
I came across part of a message I sent to the mayor of my town almost 2 years ago— who has since passed away (Let the vulture-esque thoughts begin!)—- that I reflected on while reading your deep thoughts in your piece entitled ‘The Great Divide’:
“First of all, I firmly believe that mainstream media (including the CBC that I trusted and loved for decades…) have instilled fear and irrational thoughts in the minds of their viewers. Social media and other platforms have contributed negatively in the same way. The result has been that people see their fellow citizens now as potential threats to their health and well-being. As someone I read put it, ‘others’ are seen as ‘bio-weapons’ now. This is profoundly upsetting, and I don’t know how we ‘go back’ from this mentality? Certainly, asking to don a face-mask/shield in public (outside of medical/clinical settings) will not solve this conundrum. I am far more fearful of the future now compared to post- 9/11 —-mainly because of the reasons I will share, and society’s ongoing reaction to this ‘virus’.”
I won’t add more of the above letter, but was surprised how many of my concerns from back then came to light between 2020 and 2022.
Now, unrelated to the above—and since there is always hope— the title of your newsletter must certainly be linked to this fact:
“A shrew-like animal that snagged insects from ferns lining the shores of freshwater lakes 160 million years ago, might be one of the first "true" mammals to walk the Earth, back when the dinosaurs roamed, a new fossil suggests.” from ‘Skinny Shrew is Oldest True Mammal’, Live Science online
It’s gotta be great to be “true as a shrew”!
Thanks for sharing—- both to the author and the commenters on this newsletter. It often makes me feel sane again in a seemingly insane world.
I love your description of the shrew…
Oh my I love all your shrew references!! You are a true shrew my friend, welcome to the club...I did not know these little gems myself..."Skinny shrew..." priceless. Thank you again for your insights!
Some tiny little rays of hope - a medical clinic which remains unnamed had only one employee unVaxxed. Over Xmas, COVID hit all staff but the unVaxxed.. the others are noticed and are starting to and wonder.
Dr. Julie Ponesse says keep pushing forward with the truth. She says when 10% of the people know it, the narrative crumbles.. we must be getting close!
100th Monkey....I do believe this could happen. But wow, the sheep I know have not heard of ANYTHING...what sheep knows about offices with only one unvaxxed employee who is the only one that doesn't get sick?? No one I know...yet I hear that all of the time myself...but no one else seems to...I have sheep friends that are STILL saying the ERs are overcrowded with the unvaccinated!!!
Yes, my spidey-sense was tingling right from the get go with all of this. It just all seemed so planned and co-ordinated and advanced all these New World Order objectives (to be rebranded as “Great Reset”).
What I also noticed right away was that there were no opposing viewpoints permitted. There were always two sides to the coin until lately. Suddenly news sources at opposite ends of the spectrum were in lockstep agreement on all covid decisions and mandates. I remember seeing an article in an online newspaper reporting on the astonishing fact that covid had resulted in the complete disappearance of the flu. I thought this must be some kind of satirical article but when I read it, they claimed that not only had the flu disappeared but that it was due to the fact that people were following the health guidelines! I noticed a comments section and I thought that surely someone would point out the obvious bullshit in all this. But it was a steady stream of “people” patting each other on the back for complying completely to everything like the good sheep they are. But I also noticed a number of comments that had been removed for offensive comments. This was the first time I had noticed the blatant censorship of opposing views. It is now common practice, even resulting in social media bans all the way up to assets being frozen or people being “dealt with” by authorities.
So what is one to do? Scream at the TV or monitor like that famous scene in the movie Network? For me, I have always found solace in listening to music. It can either calm me or further enrage me depending on what I think I need. It also means I have a vast amount of lyrics rattling around my brain. So this article brought me to my favourite album by my favourite artist - Hemispheres by Rush. The song itself takes up the entire first side of the vinyl album. At its core, it is about the battle between the heart and mind or love and reason. This lyric seems relevant to what you were discussing in the article about people being divided and struggling in this new dystopian world. Here are the lyrics for the section titled IV. Armageddon The Battle of Heart and Mind.
The Universe divided
As the Heart and Mind collided
With the people left unguided
For so many troubled years
In a cloud of doubts and fears
Their world was torn asunder into hollow hemispheres
Some fought themselves, some fought each other
Most just followed one another
Lost and aimless like their brothers
For their hearts were so unclear
And the truth could not appear
Their spirits were divided into blinded hemispheres
You can find the lyrics to the whole opus here - https://www.rush.com/songs/cygnus-x-1-book-two-hemispheres/
Thanks for another thought provoking article, Todd!
Yes our whole family finds solace in music. Playlists have become even more important during these times. See my posts on music. We’re Rush fans, too.
Thank you for the comment to my comment. I briefly checked out your profile and some of your articles. Very interesting stuff. I noticed amongst so many other things that you are a drummer so liking Rush makes a lot of sense. I wonder what you make of the recent passing of Taylor Hawkins, himself a huge Rush fan? The general consensus amongst the thinking people (or shrews as Todd calls us) I read is that it was definitely vaxx related. So I guess it was karma biting Dave Grohl for being one of the biggest vaxx supporters, being one of the first artists to step forward demanding that all who attend their concerts be fully indoctrinated. Such a sad loss really. He didn't want it. He was forced to by his "buddy". He had such an enthusiasm and lust for life. He was very much like a little boy living out his dream.
Anyway, it looks like I have more reading to do. I very much look forward to that.
I would like to write on Rush and many of their songs. Must wait until inspiration comes around on that one.
One of the best concerts was Rush in Los Angeles some years back. Have a son who is a drummer and Rush is his favorite group. Very technical stuff. Newly acquainted with some young drummers here in Nashville who seem tuned in.
Your comment about going to see them in Los Angeles reminded me of this doc of what turned out to be their farewell tour that ended in LA. It's a great doc that focuses on Rush fans. It's called Time Stand Still. Here is the write up on Rotten Tomatoes - https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rush_time_stand_still
If you want to bounce anything off me when you are writing the Rush piece, let me know.
Yes, other musicians have related Taylor’s death to the vaccine. The sadness we feel at his death hopefully may be used to further the positive, loving intentions of people like Taylor.
Karma of all kinds may well be a factor in all these deceptions being imposed by those who would control we the people. Music helps keep us strong in the face of all this. Thanks!
Leave your substack address in your comments…
Very nice Mike...thank you again for one of your very insightful and heartfelt comments. You definitely have pegged my foundational thrust with nearly everything I write...I believe one of the primary things that have been purposefully eroded from our culture is our "consciousness of the heart"...this is evident in our consumersim, our loss of critical thinking (go figure, you would think that was "consciousness of the intellect" but critical thinking is dependent on intuition, trust, faith, etc....all of the heart) among other obvious behaviours and ways of being. Anyway, too complex to go into here! Thank you again for your participation in this discussion!