nightmare – Willow Croft

To the United States,

You have voted to retain a state of ignorance–one which the planet cannot afford and which will continue to destroy the planet and its amazingly diverse life forms.

You have voted simply to ensure you can continue to express your hatred and intolerance for the diversity of life on this planet, and to engage in the violent and retributive acts that accompany said hatred. And you will eschew both integrity and common sense in dogged pursuit of that hatred.

You have voted for a individual whose motivation to run for president was pure self interest; a person who has no moral center, a person who is not only guided by self interest, but also of greed and who will not hesitate to exploit each and every one of you to maintain their bottom line and to rule with unchecked power.

Through all of the clear evidence about what sort of person Trump was, I held onto a last bit of faith that reason and ethical values would win out, and now there is only unequivocal certainty that the United States, when presented with a candidate that spoke with reason, with justice, with honour, and much more besides, has chosen the exact opposite.

As a result, the political climate in the United States has become denigrated to an unbelievably low standard that is more representative of a toddler throwing a temper tantrum, except those involved have not only the power of a presidency, but the warmongering tools to put their rage into effect on a global stage. It would be some sort of joke, except it is not even remotely funny that this criminal…this unhinged madman…has once again managed to con the general public to obtain dictatorship levels of power.

On this morning of the election, nowhere feels safe.

On this morning of the election, although it’s been a long time coming, it feels like the beginning of the end.

I’ll wrap this up by saying thank you, Kamala Harris, for your bravery and strength in running for the presidency of the United States, and I still have the tiniest bit of hope that good will win out…or at least common sense…

What a dark day.

Recently, I wrote an article over on LinkedIn about how 2023 could be the year of the slowdown (in a proactive way). I’m not slowing down much myself, but I am taking some time out here and there for some fun things that don’t really accomplish anything useful. *gasp*

The pressure is on, though, to get the income needed to help me escape what I’m now calling the Nightmare Hell Zone* (and not in a fun way), so I’ve been applying for jobs in brick-and-mortar locations as well as online remote-work locations. One thought I’ve recently had was that I could maybe get a job with a chain and then use that to transfer to another location in the United States, or, perhaps even more wishful-thinking, transfer to a Canadian locale!

Anyway, until I go figure things out (or win the lottery–the HGTV dream home–Travel Channel Sweepstakes), I’m sharing some links for you to stroll through as you, yourselves, meander into 2023.

(Unless, of course, you just want to stop reading here, and go write a snail mail letter or take a day off next week to hang out with your houseplant BFFs. That’s fine too!)

Here’s January’s “Tarot Card Readings for Inspiration”: https://horrortree.com/january-2023-tarot-cards-for-creative-inspiration/ and their snarky horoscope sidekick: https://horrortree.com/january-2023-horoscopes-tempting-fate-in-the-new-year/.

And if another bomb cyclone is bearing down on you again, check out my “Cultivating Winter Magic” post as well: https://horrortree.com/cultivating-winter-magic-for-writers/. Who says you can’t go out in style, right?

*Want to exercise your creative muscles? Feel free to share (in the comments) your own wild and wacky names for a terrifying town in rural U.S.A.!