Darkness and light, pleasure and pain, we often see our world in terms of these stark dichotomies. Still, most of our lives are lived in a mundane shambolic swirl. But the past week has been dark, painful and unremittingly hard to bear. From the massacre in Texas to the impending demise of Roe to the barbaric war in Ukraine there is nary a good word on the airwaves to be had.
When I stop and ingest the news it overwhelms me. Not kidding at all about this. By the time I read the news summaries from the news e-mails I get in the morning, WaPo, Bridge and AP I can actually feel the tension in my shoulders starting to cause muscle ache and an acidy churning in my gut starting. Not going to get into all my feelings here but if you fall on the Ted Cruz side of the weapons debate, or Justice Alito’s take on Roe just unfriend me now.
The only thing that has kept me from being overwhelmed is that I have other things I have been working on, and working intensely on. Just because I have not been writing much for the blog in recent days, doesn’t mean I haven’t been writing. Seriously, I have been writing lots and lots of stuff. Mostly I have been drafting and organizing a visa application for a long term stay outside these very divided United States. One thing about putting together the application, it kept me from falling headfirst into the news.
On Wednesday morning Francie and I put in our residency applications to VFS. VFS is a third party that does a pre-screen of visa applications for the Portuguese government. A great deal of the process was collecting financials and other important documents. Had to send a criminal history check from the FBI that had been apostilled. Had to send an authorization in English and Portuguese for the Portuguese police to do a criminal history check on me. Had to send passport pictures, passport ID page pictures (notarized), and beaucoup financial documents.
In addition to all those things I had to write up and send a statement saying “succinctly” why I wanted to live long term in Portugal. What this really entails is drafting is a part biography, a part financial narrative and a part aspirational declaration. My statement stayed away from things like “my country’s on a dark and dismal path”. Also, I stayed away from the retrograde actions of our Supreme Court. Furthermore, I stayed away from my fear of what happens at the midterms.
Senhor Todd’s statements were mostly about really enjoying the people, the cuisine, and the culture of Portugal. Without a question those things are true. However, the two things I am really motivated by I just couldn’t put down. How do you say politely, geez I turned left and my country turned hard right and that just won’t do for me in my remaining years? Also, it would be gauche to say beach town life can be much less expensive in Portugal that in the US of A.
What finally got mailed was about a linear inch thick times two; one for Francie and one for me. There will be two more, one for each of the boys but we are not there yet. Funny thing the biographical statement for the government was not the first one we had to create. Back at the end of March/start of April we had to do some long-distance house hunting. Our agent had us create a biography with financials at the end of it to present to prospective landlords. That essay covered everything from our childhood ER visits to our meet cute at MSU to our travels in Norway, England, France and Portugal. I omitted a few things because who knows what might be found in, or end up in the Interpol database.
Nothing is easy in this process and everything seems to be a moving target. Whether we sent the materials in for a paper review or we headed in for a NYC consulate appointment, (note well there were no NYC appointments before August when I checked on May 2nd), was and remains a source of consternation. (Consternation is one of those words my mother used often, I guess that in her case it substituted for profanity). We opted for the mail in route. We will see how that goes.
No matter where I go, there I will be. I am committed to not letting the darkness overwhelm me no matter where I am residing. I must be dedicated to bringing the light with me wherever I go, I have to be. At a concert years ago Billy Bragg one of my favorite musicians offered up the comment that, “Cynicism is the ultimate enemy of democracy”. I believe whole heartedly that he was right but I think he stopped short. Cynicism is not only the ultimate enemy of democracy but it is the ultimate enemy of a living a good life. Governments and political philosophies will rise up but eventually they all fall. Nothing and I mean nothing precludes us from living a life of light except for our fears and prejudices. Me, I think we all can move beyond those hinderances. Share love and light in the weeks ahead my friends.
About the title of this post. Last week FB 11 months after it was posted took down a post of mine for violating community standards. I had not advocated for or against any political stance. I didn't use any of the seven deadly words. I am clueless unless a reader objected but there was no way to appeal the decision. My wife read the piece and muttered this is boring, it is almost as if you were complaining about lumpy oatmeal. Hence the title.
I close with a song of light. Live in sunlit rooms my friends.
