hoping the Mayan calendar is correct

This is how one is prepared for the eventual, mind-blowing event of death or transition:  create an earthly situation in which the state of things are so bad that one actually begins to hope for The End.  Prophesy theories have always made me break out in to a cold sweat.  Whether it’s the Mayan calendar’s prediction that the world will end as we know it in 2012 or those stupid Left Behind books, I get an ache in my stomach and my back knots up and I start to see how the events of recent history point to our imminent ruin. It’s not the salvation part that each of these theories has that gets me so shook up; rather it’s the utter pandemonium and destruction that comes before, during or after that worries me.  You know, in case I’m still around to experience it.

But then I woke up this morning thinking about how crapped up the economy is, how unstable everything feels right now, and I thought, “Eh, maybe The End or the Big Transition wouldn’t be such a bad thing right about now.  Bring it.”  I considered just how tragic the first decade of the 21st century has been so far.  The WTC attack, the Patriot Act, the Indian Ocean earthquake-turned-tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, the war in Iraq, Daniel Pearl, Enron/WorldCom/ImClone, space shuttle Columbia, Virginia Tech.  There are more, many more, but I couldn’t keep reading because I have a weak stomach when it comes to death and destruction, not to mention stupidity.

Is it just me or has the last 7-8 years been more problematic than decades past?  Is it that we simply have a higher propensity for destruction because of technology or the fact that this planet is housing more people than it ever has before?  Is this quantity of tragedy comparable to other tragic points in history, based on our population?  Or are we truly experiencing more upheaval than ever before?  Perhaps the last 7 or 8 years is not unlike other periods of time in history and I’m just noticing it more because of my age.

Whatever the case may be, it’s unsettling.  It feels like we’re all at the edge of a precipice en pointe and none of us knows the next step of the dance and we’re doomed to fall into the darkness.  I cannot imagine an America in the future.  I cannot imagine this country continuing to manage itself if it continues to stay on its current course.  And sadly, neither of the current presidential candidates is our Silver Bullet out of this mess.  By the time he gets into office and gathers his cabinet and starts getting down to business, who knows what state we’ll all be in?  When will we, the American people, realize that we have to stop with this nonsensical Republican versus Democrat bullshit we call politics?

Doom and gloom.  I don’t mean to be all doom and gloom, but these are scary times and I trust no one.  The world is uncertain enough without our financial infrastructure imploding and without a government body that cannot be trusted to do what is in the best interest of the people.  I got this gem in my inbox this morning and I share it here with you now because frankly, who can tell?  At this point I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the plan all along.  Is 32 too young to be jaded?

I was going to change my header picture but I think I’ll leave the rolling clouds for now.  It’s appropriate.