"Do Do That Voodoo That You Do So Well"

Darklings,





I’ve received several comments while I was on vacation, that I need to address, I didn’t post the comments because they seemed to repeat themselves so I wasn’t sure if they were from one person or several---BUT~~~~



I’ve had several people ask me why I do not remark about the events that are happening in the Middle East and the world, as well as the progress and statements by our two presidential candidates.



I know I have followers from as far away as Hong Kong, Malaysia, Australia, Pakistan, Russia, the Ukraine, Israel and parts of Europe as well as the United States, Canada and in South America and Mexico. With the internet we have truly become a global society.



And as an Elder/Elderly Goth and a human being, in a way I think I might need to explain myself as a sort of apology, well not quiet an apology but definitely as an explanation.



In regards to the Presidential Campaign and our two candidates~~~~~



Here in my local community, on television, in the newspapers, magazines and radio I am so swamped with all these promises of “vote for me I can do better” that I begin to tune them out.



Not until October will I look over the record of both candidates and the parties as well as anyone else that maybe running will I make any sort of personal decision and that my Darklings is the key word “personal”.



I refuse to get involved in any debate regarding politics, to me it can destroy friendships, create a dividing line between family members and disrupt good feelings between neighbors, I will not put any sort of political sign on my front lawn nor “wear my personal thoughts” on my sleeve or on my blog. (Although this is about as close to personal as it can get)



I will attend any “town hall meetings” that I feel will be informative just so I can get a better idea of our local candidates for our state, county and city positions as well as to have a better understanding of the various initiatives, propositions and bond issues.



But talk about it on my blog? No I will not---I want my blog to be free of any of those things, I want it to be an escape into other things, far, far, far away from politics and religious fundamentalism, they are banned from my blog.



Is that harsh? No Darklings it is not… I do not turn a deaf ear nor a blind eye to what is happening around the world. As a matter of fact I am very aware of it; I follow it and do what I can to keep updated on it.



Yes I am and was horrified by what has happened and is happening, but if there is one thing I learned becoming an Elder/Elderly Goth, is that there is always more than what one sees and it is always best to step back and analyze before forming an opinion and then speaking it out loud.



Do I have thoughts and opinions about what has happened --- yes I do, Very Strong opinions, far, far stronger than what I have just mentioned but I will not post it here.



I will not say “vote for this person or this bond” or nor will I say anything inflammatory.



It is a wise Elder/Elderly Goth who will step back away from the fray and examine the bigger picture and wait for all the information to come in, for as each day passes more and more is revealed until eventually one can see what has and is happening.



In my youth, an elderly priest once told me “TRUTH LIES AT THE BOTTOM OF A WELL, one has to drag it up through the muck and mire, and then carefully wash it off, but when one does that, it can burn so bright as to be blinding, burning away one’s eyes when they see the falseness they have been hiding behind and the truth is revealed.”   and he was not referring to an islamic prophecy but to TRUTH.



He said it’s much like that scene in “Raiders of the Lost Ark” when the Nazi’s open the Ark of the Covenant and all these beings come out and are at first beautiful but because it’s truthful beauty it is so horrendous it blinds you and can destroy you, unless you are willing to open your heart to it, Indiana Jones and his female cohort realized this and knowing how terrible the beauty can be and knowing they are sinners, closed their eyes not because they wanted to see the truth, but having respect for it they closed their eyes and thereby opened their hearts.



I asked him, how can he, a priest be so content in his last days; he said he had seen horror when he was doing missionary work in his younger days, and he asked over and over again of God Why? Why? It was such a test of his faith that at times he was almost ready to toss it away, but then a child or someone sick, lame, in need of help would come to him, sometimes he could heal or help them, and there were times he couldn’t but only give them dignity and peace in their dying, to let them know they were not alone or forsaken.



And then one day he discovered that the answer was ‘it must be to learn, to learn goodness, compassion, pity and to balance one’s love of God and human kind against the dogma of religion and to keep Faith with God’ he told me that the greatest of God’s commandments is to Love One Another and in doing that to accept each other and respect and work with each other in Peace and Harmony, with that, even facing adversity he regained his faith.



He said it’s like a baby learning to walk, first you have to roll over, then you have to learn the function of crawling, then to gain the balance to be able to walk, first with one step and then another and BALANCE is the most important of the function of walking, WE, meaning the entire planet, have not learn to be in Balance, but we will, we’ve come along way from the Apes, but we have so much further to go.



He told me that when he felt sad about things, something comes along and reminds him that we must keep Faith; he said it can be as simple as a butterfly, a child’s laughter, a hummingbird sipping nectar, a sparrows song, the tiniest things. But that the worst he said is to inflame people and lead them down destructions path, or to follow blindly without reason or information. To be as sheep following the Judas Goat to destruction, he advised me to never be a sheep and I have never been one.



He reminded me of the two scenes in “Bride of Frankenstein” where first the Monster is hunted down like an animal, and then in the second scene a blind hermit takes him in and teaches him. Granted the scene is played in saccharin sentimentality but its truthfulness is there.



As an Elder/Elderly Goth I have and will donate to charities that can help the helpless, I will support those actions that will do the greatest good. I will help my neighbors, family and co-workers, be kind to animals, and avoid making judgments until I know everything to form an informed opinion.



For you younger Goths you can help with food drives, clothing drives, blood drives, soup kitchens, para-transit, help those who are weaker than yourself, do fund raising, get the word out on what needs to be done, work with habitat for humanity, raise food in community gardens to be shared and other charities.



Be informed; do not say “I’m democrat or republican or an independent or a libertarian or a member of Occupy” instead you should say “I am for keeping the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and all the amendments in the Bill of Rights and for helping my fellow human being and those creatures that do not have a voice.”



But my posting comments or thoughts on my blog about the situations in the world or the political arena? No, I’ll leave that to Associated Press and CNN, my blog is about what I’m doing in this world and to provide a bit of escape and thoughts for those who wish to come here, read and forget about other things that are horrible.



If what I post sounds selfish, self-centered, hedonistic I can assure you it is not, I do work that helps a lot of people and is both mentally and physically draining and if I didn’t take time to “heal myself” then I could not function in society, I would not be able to find the little fun Gothicy things in life. I would not be able to see the beauty in the dark, or with old and crumbling things, nor would I be able to see things in the light as well.



So what I do, I do to heal myself so I can help others. Am I wealthy? For a long time I was not, I had to work two jobs to save and achieve what I wanted; it is only in the last few years that my finances are where I can live a comfortable life, not large but comfortable.



Now My Darklings and Baby Bats, I have said the only nearly political or religious thing that I am going to say on my blog. (I think)



And I say to all of you, to quote Harvey Korman as Hedly LaMarr in “Blazing Saddles” (a politically incorrect movie you really should see), get out there and “Do do that Voodoo that you do so well.”



In the next few weeks, I’ll be looking into local murder mysteries, vampires, Halloween, ghost hunting and other things, that is if I have time as I am still doing construction and repair work on my home and Doyle has those October travel plans ***sigh*** it never stops.



Later Darklings.