Like many, I got a strong urge to become an expat in 2016 but, in retrospect, it wasn't for reason I originally thought. I see now if we would have moved when I felt that undeniable urge to we would have avoided quite a few of the negative effects of the pandemic..among other things. By now we would have been fluent in the language, would be citizens, and have put down roots. Now we must dig in and try our best to weather the storm that's coming. Quite a few people feel it, I think.
I'm so glad you're getting some value out of it. The project has exceeded my expectations so far. Already, it's the most personally rewarding of any I've launched in the past seven years.
2016 was a turning point for many of us. I became much more open minded. That changed my whole world. More and more of us are opening. I recently spent an entire day with an old and dear friend of mine, who shocked me with her hate of all things conservative a few years ago, when the Covington boys were demonized. This visit, she admitted that she and her friends were self-righteous, and that her mind had been opened. I thought that would never happen.
For me, the realization came a few years later. I knew there was corruption but I wasn't ready to admit that it ran so deeply, was working so hard to divide the country, conquer it with hate, and control everything to such a degree. Now I refuse to see fellow Americans as "the enemy" and recognize the true enemy to be the forces that drive that division. We so desperately need a new and different option but to make that happen many more people would need to wake up.
yes. This is a primary problem. Because so many of us see half of Americans as the enemy, we are very easy to conquer. This gives more meaning to what the trees told me:
I feel surrounded, and protected, by Ents today.
I agree. It’s a race against time at this point. There’s unfathomable wisdom to be found in nature. Our distance from it is one reason we’re in this predicament.
I really like this guy’s YouTube channel. He’s trying to educate his audience that are similarities are greater than our differences:
Love the old oven! oh my goodness it's fabulous!
"these will keep a man full all day."
Twenty years ago, "you couldn't have asked for a better town."
The things you see if you don't take the main roads!
This is wonderful. I live in a place with a lot of similarities to this one. Thank you so much!
You're welcome! Peter really has a knack for getting people to tell their stories. He was nearly "cancelled" after his videos of San Fran around the pandemic. He, obviously, touched a nerve with those in power for exposing realities that didn't align with the mainstream narrative. I've learned so much by watching his videos. His series on Appalachia is especially good. He has a way of revealing the commonalities we all have, this is something you definitely won't get from main stream media.