Surviving The Fall, 2

I had an unusually social day off yesterday, visiting with three consecutive friends in one day. It felt almost like a work day, given that that is often how I arrange things with my clients, but there is one significant difference: these are some of my friends, I am not being paid to see them, nor is the main focus of our visits on promoting their mental health and wellbeing, though we tend to do that for each other, anyway. For me, friendships are especially important because I don`t have a family, and I am not one to feel sorry for myself for not having a family, and for one simple reason. I am free, and the freedom from people who harmed me, oppressed me and judged me is something I will not easily relinquish. Those who are not dead have abandoned and forgotten me, and I am fine with that. I am free. One ex-friend made the error of insisting on feeling sorry for me. When I told him that I was without family, he insisted on saying over and over again, "Oh, that is so sad, that is so sad." Like many of his ilk, he didn't seem to have the intelligence to realize that maybe this also helps me appreciate my friends, but this didn't stop him from dropping me like the proverbial hot potato, and all because this individual, being a Christian pastor, really had an agenda with me to get me involved in his church and under his control and influence. When I made it clear I wasn't going to budge in his direction, he ended all contact with me. I have better friends. But this is why I am writing this today. Our relationships with others have a lot to do with how well we are going to cope with these increasingly uncertain times. This isn't to say that we are going to stop worrying as most of my friends, like me, tend to be dreadful worry-warts, but I think that if we can distract one another just enough, and if we can keep each other and ourselves laughing...Really, what is there to get so dreadfully anxious and worked-up and serious about, Gentle Reader, except maybe the end of the world as we know it? And maybe that is what is facing us. But since we cannot know this for certain, nor just how the world is going to end, or when, then maybe we could just work with the "as we know it" portion, and leave to the experts this end of the world business. Except, we already have left it to the experts, and some of those experts happen to work for Kinder Morgan and other whores of Big Oil. Oops! Silly me! Does this planet have a shelf life? Well, doesn't everything? Are we getting close? We might be closing in on our own best before date as a species, but I think the earth is going to survive us many years after, and is also likely to be a lot better off without us. How could I say such a thing? Well, we are the only species whose activity has impacted on the biosphere to the point of triggering catastrophic climate change from global warming, among other things. Our species just wasn't satisfied with staying in Africa, you see. We are a tropical animal. This is why we generally have to wear clothes. It isn't just to cover up the naughty bits. We are not biologically engineered to withstand cold weather, hence our rather unfortunate history of burning fossil fuels. And no one really had a clue what this would do to impact the planet. And we weren't all about to return to Africa, or at least stay in the warmer countries. Besides, what would the fashion industry do without this need for excessive clothing? There are only so many re-inventions possible for bikinis and G-strings, after all. We can only hope that common sense will go on seizing the day and that fossil fuels become completely and permanently replaced by renewable energy, which, contrary to the caustic whining of too many Canadians, is even more economical and more likely to continue creating jobs in this country. And this is why it is good to have friends. We can at least keep each other grounded and distract each other with humour. If we are going to walk off the precipice, then I'd rather do it laughing!