The TWILIGHT Zone

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

there's a sign post up ahead, next stop: THE TWILIGHT ZONE!

this is Wendy's New Year's address to the News-Press readers and I detect a change in tone from our gal...but as always, love is the answer!

By WENDY MCCAW

NEWS-PRESS CO-PUBLISHER 

For the past two years,

I’ve heard numerous

people comment that

the world today is like

an episode from the

“Twilight Zone.”

Everything seems to be upside

down. The things we assumed

were dependable have unraveled.

The rules we followed have been

broken. The leaders we believed

in have failed. (Traitor Trump!!)

Like the “Twilight Zone,” the

future looks unpredictable. Unlike

the “Twilight Zone,” there are

no commercial breaks where we

can run to the kitchen and get a

reprieve from the drama (as well

as a snack). Unfortunately, there

is no Rod Serling to guide us

through this realm.

We’ve seen the macabre twists,

but the moral of this never-ending

saga is yet to appear.

Like the episode where that

bank teller (Burgess Meredith) who yearns to have

more time to read and gets his

wish when he becomes the sole

survivor of a nuclear holocaust,

have we as a people wanted more

free time and now have that wish

granted? (always wise to have two pair of glasses)

Except freedom really isn’t part

of the formula.

Yes, we now have lots of time to

read at home but we are no longer

a free people. We are captive to

bureaucratic baloney. (samwiches??) One week

we have to follow this mandate

or that and the next it has all

changed.

The ever-moving goal posts

of not knowing what or whom to

believe makes one distrustful of

those who are in power.

In Santa Barbara, we have been

witness to a depressing descent

into hopelessness. (we're fine in Carp!)

How many businesses on

State Street and other once thriving

thoroughfares have gone

dark? How many hard-working

shopkeepers, restaurateurs

and service providers have

disappeared? Our streets are

littered with debris, our walls

are defaced with graffiti, and the

transient population has taken

over our once-pristine piece of paradise.

As a community, we have

created numerous rescue services

and welfare programs at great

cost to taxpayers, (jail) but it hasn’t

worked.

In fact, it seems to encourage

bad behavior and a reliance upon

handouts instead of inspiring

transients to become contributors

to our society. Where is that

guardian angel of Santa Barbara

who can find a solution?

There is one thing that the

“Twilight Zone” offered in many

episodes: hope. That is what we

now need to hold onto tightly. With

hope we can cause change.

By striving to be better driven

by the spirit of hope, things

around us will also become better.

If you are fortunate to have someone in your  life to love and something to do, then hope is easier to nurture. If you are searching for that love component, then look around you with fresh eyes.

Love takes many different forms, from the

love of a soulmate to the love of a neighbor (I'd do my neighbor!) to the love of a pet.

If you can bring kindness into your daily life,

then life will reward you. (so will a hefty divorce settlement!)

For our beloved Santa Barbara, do what you

can to help improve it. If you see (white) trash on the

sidewalk, pick it up. Help support a struggling

business and become a loyal customer. As easy

as it may seem to order everything online, it

comes at a much higher cost — the price of

losing a local business.

If you have been waiting at home for things

to change, initiate that change. Volunteer

at one of the hundreds of local nonprofits in

town. You can make a difference in many

lives by helping out. It will also make a big

difference in your life.

Focusing on someone to love, something

to do and something to hope for could be the

moral of this episode and a pathway out of the

“Twilight Zone.”

for something to do!