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!
