A guy who cares and isn’t afraid to show it is far more attractive than someone who acts like they don’t give a shit.
You know what’s sexy? Effort. Effort is sexy as fuck.
Many who aren’t yet self-aware make a very bad choice in youth, get their hearts broken, then shut off for good — and tell themselves that’s how it must be.
By these same principles, one would choose dodgy food truck tacos at 4a.m., get wicked food poisoning, end up in the hospital, and claim they can’t go near Mexican food for the rest of their lives. I am not sure they understand how childish they come off to others who have a grasp on reality.
There are so many who do this to themselves and fail to see it’s their own fault. And the common thread? 1. They ALL made awful choices in women based on their own desperate neediness at the time. 2. Everyone around them saw and warned them, but they didn’t listen. They wanted what they wanted.
Then they get defensive and back up their god-awful decision defensively by putting up ridiculous barriers and living in fear instead of seeing it for what it was…their own fault…and breaking patterns.
Living without emotion isn’t living at all. It’s just going through life half empty. When people wish for the big things in life, they’re not things money can buy. They are wishing for peace of mind, fulfillment, love, health, and contentment.
We get none of that by putting up barriers and pretending we don’t give a fuck, using others to fill voids, and being afraid to feel.
Kids skate by getting B’s and C’s in class. People accept whatever is told to them by the news channel that aligns with their own opinions. “American made” now means it’s half-assed at best. Work ethic falls in line with effort. Honing intuition and developing the ability to think critically is discouraged. After all, we’re raised with the delusion that we have five senses when we actually have SIX. That sixth sense is what keeps us from making those awful mistakes and leading us down the wrong paths. Our subconscious registers everything else going on and computes the entire story. Tune that out and you’ll lose your way. Everyone thinks they and theirs are special, but it’s the lazy and average personalities who are most abundant.
Effort is a life skill that must be developed. But math (which doesn’t include learning about PMI or credit card interest) is required to graduate.
No effort…no reward. To get what you don’t have you must do what you have never done before. Break the patterns.
Thank you for reading.
Instagram: @realaprilhunter
The A Show Podcast, the Moderate Voice of Reason, where Smart is the New Sexy! www.Twitch.tv/TheAShow
April K. Hunteris a television writer, short story author, copywriter, blogger, and primarily writes thrillers and memoirs. She has her B.F.A. in Creative Writing for Entertainment and her work appears in a variety of publications, including RxMuscle, Page & Spine, Medium, and European Journal FONT. Her first book, UNDISCLOSED DARKNESS can be found on Smashwords and Barnes & Noble. Her children’s book, Monty, A Tale of No Tail, can be found on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
A model and pro wrestler, she’s currently a part-time superhero at geek conventions, Mother of Chickens, a co-host of The A Show podcase with Aron Stevens, and fostering dogs until they’re spoiled rotten. When not crafting stories, she is learning something new each day or scouring the internet for funny memes while drinking too much coffee.
We’re all tired of 14 days of quarantine turning into two years. We are feared to death with nonstop fight-or-flight life or death threats, which keeps us from accessing the area of the brain we need to make logical, common sense decisions. We are mourning, riddled with anxiety, losing friends, and burned out.
We’re angry, exhausted and not sure who to believe anymore. Worst, we’ve given up and just started to accept whatever we’re being told though corporate owned media companies who can fear or steer us in any direction they wish.
At this point, there are a few highly dangerous beliefs going around that are STAGGERING and need to be addressed….even from my own circles. I encourage you to search all of this further on a browser that’s not Google and with an added privacy extension.
1. “The vaccine is the only way. Everyone must get there.” Fact: It doesn’t matter if you ARE or ARE NOT. The viral load carried is the same. This is why half the people getting sick or more are vaccinated. Yes, HALF. They give AND get just the same. This is why the CDC brought masks back regardless of status. This is also why a nearly fully vaccinated Israel is still having outbreaks. Ditto for cruise lines and Naval ships, where every single person is vaccinated and boosted. As of Delta, if there were 5 people in the hospital, 4 were vaccinated. The 1 unvaccinated person had co-morbidities. We didn’t see this on the news because there are booster shots with huge profits to push.
We also didn’t have any new variants until the mass vaccination started. A virus has ONE JOB. To live. It’ll adapt to its host…regardless of status. It typically becomes smarter, more contagious and weaker as it goes on. All these shots are what’s causing the variants. That’s why only 4% of the unvaccinated have the new variant.
YOU…the vaccinated…are the carriers. You are the spreaders as well. If you look at how an mRNA works, you’ll understand this. It’s not a typical adenovirus vaccine, where part of a dead virus is injected in order to stimulate an immune response. With a messenger ribonucleic acid that adheres to your DNA, you take the virus IN first. This actually isn’t a vaccine at all. It’s a drug – with side effects All drugs come with a long list of side effects, which we see and hear, rattled from the screens on the commercials. But this one…nothing. “100% Safe & Effective.” Alarm bells should be ringing, kids.
And there ARE side effects. They’re being downplayed and dismissed because so much was invested and promised but this isn’t about public health or well being. It takes 30-45 minutes to fill out a VAERS report (Vaccine adverse event reaction) and you must have the vaccine information and batch number, where it was given, and all the specifics. It can’t be faked. It’s estimated that only 1-10% of injuries and deaths are being reported due to hospitals being understaffed, short on time and threatened with loss of license if they DO report. Plus people being in shock over losing loved one to sudden heart or neurological issues…they’re not thinking straight. The actual reported numbers right now are around a million injuries. Doing the math gives us a much bigger picture.
Over 14,000 have died from adverse reactions at this point in time (9/9/21) and Harvard Medical estimates the reports are grossly under-reported with only 1% being submitted to VAERS. 75% of those reports are done by medical professionals. And then the hospital is paid out for that “death by covid” by the government. Feel free to research this.
It’s not like one can report, “Oh, yeah….I reported that I died 12 times last week. How many times did you report?”
How can the CDC possibly study the adverse reactions and track safety data for the rest of us when the issues and deaths are not being reported?
The average age of death and injury in adults is 33 years old. Young, healthy people should not be getting vaccinated. Neither should children or pregnant women. Expectant mothers can’t have a glass of wine or shellfish…but this is “safe”?
Most people are not getting educated. They’re just believing anything they’re told. Unfortunately, misinformation is more often than not called information. And real information is labeled “misinformation.”
A tried and true military tactic to divide and destroy countries from within is to first scatter and confuse.
2. “98% percent of who is in hospitals are unvaccinated.” How do you define unvaccinated? The CDC defines it as someone who IS vaccinated, but for 14 days or less after their second shot. And now, that definition is set to include boosters, too. They also define it as someone who is having an adverse reaction to the vaccine. So…if you die from either covid or a reaction to the vaccination, you are listed as “UNVACCINATED.”
3. “Apparently people are OK with killing others.” No. No, they are not. Not even a little bit. This is a very detailed explanation that requires an open mind in order to hear AND absorb.
We are a country of LAW, not morals. Setting a medical mandate precedent is dangerous. In the case of the word “personhood”, which was used to convict Scott Peterson on a double murder charge for Lacey Peterson’s fetus, this has now led the way to abolish or roll back abortion.
4. “This is tested and SAFE.” Are you sure? Are you willing to bet your children’s lives on that?
Tell me, what happens in 5 years? 10? 15? Does this cause cancer? If you can answer that, you’re lying. Because even the experts admit they don’t know. Which brings me to…
5. “The FDA approved it!” The head of bioethics at the NIH is married to Dr. Anthony Fauci. The NIH submits its testing to the FDA for approval. It was fast-tracked…plain and simple.
A medication or vaccination takes about 10 years (or longer) to test in order to be proven safe and effective. They have to test on groups, like those who are diabetics, using T therapy, women in menopause or on hormones, etc…they also have to test dosing. They skipped all those very important steps. It’s been less than a year. Please don’t tell others how they should feel, or that they’re stupid or selfish for being cautious. It’s arrogant…and you will not be there to take care of them if things go wrong. Neither will the companies who make this because there’s NO liability. No OSHA accountability. Nothing. So, kindly piss off with the elitist attitudes. Again, research and use something other than corporate censored Google.
The FDA also approved Vioxx. Doctor endorsed cigarettes. The Gardasil vaccine, which ruined so many girls. Accutane. Roundup. DDT. I could go on and on. All of this was safe and backed by science. This brings me to…
6. The Trusted Media Alliance was created a year ago. It’s headquartered right outside of Washington, DC and its members include everyone from BBC to Rolling Stone, Microsoft to Facebook, CNN to Reuters…you get the point. They are given what’s to be said.
Our media is owned by just 6 corporations. Everything you see, read and hear is from these companies. We can be feared and steered in any direction they wish. Even better…these corporates are embedded into our lawmaking. Net Neutrality, anyone?
6a. “What about fact checkers?” I’m glad you asked! FB fact-checking is corporate-owned and traced back to financial investments related to all of this. See above. Snopes is 6 months behind. Reuters, a big offender, is included in the Media Alliance and has been caught in numerous false statements. Ditto for Facebook “Independent” Fact Checkers, who, when confronted with proof, stops communicating.
And recently, in a court of law, we’ve seen Facebook ADMIT that they’re “fact checking” is simply opinion.
7. “There are no hospital beds left, the unvaccinated shouldn’t be treated!”
How kind. Do we feel this way about diabetics who don’t follow instructions? The obese? Smokers? Alcoholics? Did I just hit all of you? Pretty sure I did. Also, in some areas, yes, there are no beds. But in most areas, there are NO STAFF. Mandates have caused workers to walk out or get fired at the worst possible time. So, everyone in need waits…and waits. Well done, America!
This is why nurses are protesting. It was just dandy for them to work the front lines during the worst time ever with no protection and often, not much for PPE, but now they can’t? How does this makes sense? This is how we value our workers? We toss them away after they went to war for us? I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised…look how we treat our military vets. How we do one thing is how we do everything.
A better question: What have nurses and medical staff seen that makes them willing to walk our or get fired rather than take the jab?
Why did people have to be paid with donuts and $100 gift cards to get vaccinated? Threatened? Coerced? Forced? Bullied, insulted? This isn’t right.
And what’s shameful as anything…the unvaccinated ARE being pushed to the back of the line, triaged out, untreated or forced to get the shot if they want to be treated. Such coercion could and should create nothing but endless lawsuits. The long term ramifications from this will have quite the fallout and it’ll be expensive.
8. “mRNA has been around for ages!” It was created in the mid ’80’s but it was never perfected and it certainly wasn’t intended to be tested on healthy people. The animals tested did develop antibodies at first…then later, they all died. Their immune systems failed.
We pay for our drinking water, which was free. We pay for TV, which was free. Why wouldn’t we expect Big Pharma to strip us of our immune systems, then sell it back to us? If our well being was their concern, GMO foods, which are banned as toxic in other countries, would be banned here, too. But we’re continually fed frankenfoods loaded with corn syrup, soy, chemicals and fillers…and the American Medical Association and Pharma companies are in bed together. Meanwhile we have a For Profit healthcare while America corporations outsource overseas for workers who have universal healthcare for cheaper labor and no healthcare costs to cut their bottom line.
Disease…the one thing that’s truly Made In America.
10. “The vaccine is 90% effective. Immune systems and natural immunity is is far less.” Wrong. So wrong. AP Press put this out (Yet another slave to The Trusted Media Alliance) and it was picked up all over. It’s a complete lie. The doctors and virologists speaking out are being SILENCED and deplatformed. Since when has that ever happened? Licensed professionals en masse being shut out?
If you’ve had covid, your immune system is 99.99% immune to every variant. The vaccine, clearly, is not. That’s why so many are getting sick. That’s ALSO why science is using antibodies from those who have had it to treat those with it…quite successfully, too.
Additionally, it’s why proof of antibodies is accepted in some areas that are mandating in lieu of cards, such as the metropolitan area of Tampa Bay. You probably should NOT take a shot if you’ve had covid. Artificial antibodies will override your natural immune system and only stop one variant, leaving you exposed to other versions as we have seen with delta.
Generally, you cannot get covid twice…unless you are vaccinated. The mRNA vaccine can actually turn on our own immune systems, leaving us vulnerable to something simple and doing a lot of damage.
You’re probably noticing a lot more heart failure, heart attacks, intestinal clots, neurological issues, spinal problems, leukemia, aneurysms, seizures, pancreatic issues, diabetes, clotting (not just J&J – all of them have the spike protein which causes clotting when it comes into contact with platelets), miscarriages in the first trimester, birth defects…and the hospitals are not reporting anything because “we can’t be sure it was caused by the vaccine.” They’re also fobbing people off as having anxiety when they’re having real side effects because they’re allegedly being told not to deal with it.
And then there’s the deadly remdesivir said to cause the deaths in the hospitals, the experimental use drug not being talked about that’s being used to treat covid. Staff have nicknamed the medication “Run Death Is Near.” It’s linked to pneumonia and organ shut downs, among other issues. Many suspect that covid isn’t killing patients (customers), this medication is.
There’s more to this, but I’ll leave it at that. Do your own research.
This virus has an extraordinarily high survival rate. Once again, typically, viruses weaken and adapt to their hosts over time…regardless of vaccinated status. They become more contagious, but much less damaging. We are seeing this now.
11. “Idiots are using horse dewormer!” The creator of Ivermectin won a Nobel Prize and it’s been used for over 25 years for viruses like Zika and malaria with blazing success. It’s currently being used in about 30% of the world now who doesn’t have a contract with Pfizer. (See Media Alliance.) IVM was created specifically for viruses and they found a secondary effect of de-worming, so it had another revenue stream. Kind of like how Viagra was created to treat high blood pressure and angina but is also used for erections as a secondary effect. Boner! Erm…Bonus!
Parts of India are now completely covid-free. What’s unusual is that these areas are unvaccinated and they include Ivermectin in every home kit.
Some countries are suing the WHO for reckless endangerment and crimes against humanity for false claims against Ivermectin. Dipali Ojha, a human rights advocate, accused the WHO and Dr. Swaminathan as having misled and misguided the Indian people throughout the pandemic from mask wear to exonerating China as to the virus’s origins. In a quote to The Indian Bar brief, a peer-reviewed publication, Ojaha accused the WHO of being complicit in a vast disinformation campaign.
Ojaha to the WHO: “The world is gradually waking up to your absurd, arbitrary and fallacious approach in presenting concocted facts as ‘scientific approach.’ While the WHO flaunts itself like a ‘know it all,’ it is akin to the vain Emperor in new clothes while the entire world has realized by now, the Emperor has no clothes at all.”
Reaction from the general public to another medication that can save lives with hostility, anger, and the need to discredit it is absolutely stupefying to me. How very childish. We should be THRILLED there are more options to save people.
Or, is all of this “we need everyone to be safe” just a lie? We don’t care about others? We don’t care if there are more options to save them? That’s what it looks like to me.
We just care about validation for our OWN personal choices and have the need to “WIN.” What are we winning by shitting on everything and everyone? People should be ashamed of themselves. What I’m seeing regarding behavior is utterly disgusting.
This is NOT how civilized, decent human beings act.
If you’re not aware of the beatings and shootings happening all over Australia, because it’s been blocked from our news, please watch. Twitter has some of the mass protests going on from all over the world…and they’re huge. Australia also shut the internet off recently, just like Cuba. If you *think* this isn’t coming to your country, you are delusional. Just like so many thought covid wasn’t coming. Get prepared. Australia stupidly gave up their weapons. An armed society is a polite society.
12. “I blame every single unvaccinated person for this.” That’s the most ignorant and *hateful* thing I’ve ever heard. Turning on your friends and family is horrific, especially when we need them the most right now. Hate and divide aren’t the way. Keeping that going is playing into the manipulation and divide. Everyone should be standing together.
13. “I don’t want to end up dead or on a ventilator.” Well, you likely won’t. This is affecting people like a bad flu. Or less. That’s about it for the overwhelming majority regardless of status.
Practicing doctors and nurses – with licenses intact – are being discredited and taken offline for speaking out. They’re being threatened, silenced, called “misinformants”.
Why would someone speak out and risk everything…their lives, their livelihood and income, the safety of their families…with nothing to gain?
Remember Sinead O’Connor speaking out about how priests were sexually abusing children? America’s response was to ban her from performing from this country and trash her records. Twenty years later, it turns out that priests were indeed sexually abusing children. TWENTY YEARS worth of children were sexually abused and destroyed because we were so arrogant and defensive that we did not even entertain listening.
History repeats itself. And have we ever apologized to O’Connor? Nope.
What we are NOT talking about: Obesity.
This virus tends to stick to the adipose tissue, which are fat cells. The more of those we have, the more at risk we are. Those who tend to end up dead or on ventilators are usually overweight and struggling with other issues called “co-morbidities”…things that may kill them in the long run. Covid (or remdesiver) exacerbates this and speeds up the process.
That said, NOW is a great time to take charge of your health and learn how to raise your immune system. If you search through my blogs, there are several with guiding you through healthy lifestyle choices. Managing stress is also a big one. Obesity should be protected and helped. It happens to people…usually through unhealthy coping techniques or injury. That’s why it’s called “comfort food.” I believe our lack of affordable mental health care leads many down this path and we need to fix our health care system. Other countries with universal care don’t have the obesity problem America does. They have access to mental health care.
14. If you have to write in code or can’t question science for fear of being shadow-banned or deplatformed in a country where free speech is part of our Constitution…your Spidey senses should be tingling. This is a huge red flaming flag.
Our children are no longer being subjected to things like DDT because someone questioned the science.“Trust the science” is the most anti science thing someone could say. Science has always welcomed being questioned.
If you can’t question the science, it’s not science. It’s propaganda.
Follow The Money > “Trust the science.”
We must ask ourselves how a government can ethically continue to enforce medical mandates with a medication that was rushed through in a few short months which clearly isn’t effective, has no liability, holds false claimed of being “safe”, and not a single expert can tell us what to expect long term.
Personal disclaimer: I’ve had plenty of vaccinations in my lifetime. I’ve never voted Republican. I have no party affiliation. There’s no reason to politicize ANY of this.
-There’s more, but I’ll leave it at this. I’ve spent thousands of hours researching this since January of 2020. I warned many back then it was coming. I’ve warned people all along the way, and been called just about everything nasty for it. But I’ve been correct. I have reached out and spoken with a lot of experts…medical professionals from all over, virologists, scientists, military people.
I’ve seen horrible things hurled at those who put out inconvenient facts which are labeled “disinformation.” I can no longer sit back and publish things privately. We are in a crisis, a cold war. We are witnessing segregation and dare I say, genocide. Time will tell on this. It always does. But it may be too late by the time we realize the damage and loss.
Those who know and do nothing are just as complicit as those who are doing the wrong. Too many are on the wrong side of history right now. Right now we need to stand together and stop with the divide and hate. It’s VITAL. I hope you will heed my words. We all do what we feel keeps us safe. That’s how we come to the decision we are making. We are all on the same page with this aspect. But it’s time to say NO to what’s going on, to take a stand.
We do not ever get rights back that were taken from us. And we will be mandated into shot after shot just to put food on our tables or go see a concert if we don’t stand up. It will never end.
Please stop viewing others as the enemy. When we *all* give and get this virus equally regardless of status…this means we are all on the same playing field.
I encourage you to research further using Firefox and a browser extension like Duck Duck Go.
Love to all of you. Go outside for a walk, find peace.
For more science, watch this:
Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee with MIT – 9/17/2021
Join the FDA for a Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee meeting to discuss Pfizer-BioNTech’s supplemental Biologics License Application for administration of a third dose, or “booster” dose, of the COVID-19 vaccine, Comirnaty, in individuals 16 years of age and older.
8 hours of scientists, doctors, and virologists from all over the world weighing in on booster shots and their new evidence regarding what they’ve seen. Each speaker gets 3 minutes.
Summation: NO BOOSTERS. Not safe. And neither is the vaccine. More trials need to be done. Watch for yourself.
Well, I now write one and co-host with Aron Stevens, who is also known as Damien Sandow on WWE and currently on NWA TV. He and I met over twenty years ago when we were wet-behind-the-ears students at Killer Kowalski’s Pro Wrestling Dojo in Boston, and we continually stayed in the same social circles, moving from New England to Louisville to Tampa simultaneously. Now he’s in California pursuing an acting career, something I gave up to pursue wrestling. Basically, we just get each other. (And since some have asked, no, he’s not my boyfriend, we are very good “tight inner circle” friends. So, he’s up for grabs, ladies!)
After losing all of our appearances this past year and having some of the most amazing blog-worthy conversations, we decided to take it to the screen with a weekly podcast. Hamin Media picked us up, gave us a kick ass producer, Colin Wysong, and The A Show was born.
If you’re a fan of my writing, you’ll be a fan of this show. It’s the same thing…but MORE.
Aron and I felt that the moderate voice is being drowned out in the fray of the divide and conquer insanity. We feel that rational discussions about hot topics like religion, politics, and choice are actually possible. We wanted to bring THE LIGHT to the “interwebs” instead of being yet more shadowy clatter. And this is what we’ve been doing, one episode at a time. We also give homework assignments to our listeners…little things to inspire and motivate.
We very much like involving our fans in our live shows, having a good news story of the week that isn’t getting the press it deserves and enjoy discussing a myriad of topics, from comic cons to healthcare, wrestling to Ren Faires, dating/life advice to mental health. No two shows are the same. We’ve grown slowly but surely and recently had our first guest, Matt McCarthy, who is a respected comedian and TV writer best known for his work and appearances on Conan, College Humor and writing for WWE.
We’re both also doing guest appearances on other Hamin Media shows, as they will be doing on ours.
We’d love for you to join us onThe A Show. There are a few free episodes you can watch if you scroll around on our page. If you like the show, please consider supporting us so we can continue doing what we love.
For me, this has been my sanity…something I truly look forward to each week and adore being a part of. It’s nice to do something that relies upon my brain for entertainment instead of my tits.
…Well, don’t get me completely wrong, there’s some cleavage on there, too. I did learn one thing about being “fair and balanced” from the Fox News anchors.
Additionally, we are live onTwitch.TV/TheAShowevery Tuesday at 1p EST and can be found on Podbean at the Hamin Media channel.
On our Patreon page, TheAShow, we continually add extras for our supporters, such as behind the scenes, health and fit tips (Just The Tip), and Aron’s Inspirations.
Here’s a show sample for you to enjoy:
Hope to see you joining us on the show and our site!
If you’re a podcast reviewer, we’d love to hear from you!
Someone asked me to write about what happened this past week with the Capitol. “I’d be really curious to see what you think, even if I don’t agree with it.” I declined because I can see so many sides to this situation, I said I’d end up alienating everyone. But, after thinking for a day or two, I decided to go ahead and hit the keyboard.
People hear what they want to hear. Context matters. You might only see a phrase that offends you, read too much into what I’m saying, then take my words and twist them. I’d hope you don’t, but I can’t control that if you do…it’s your decision.
And as much as people claim they don’t like labels, they fucking LOOOVE labels. They want to fly labels out to Vegas and marry them. They want to have 8 babies with their labels. We’ve gotten to where labels are our personal identity. If you insult a political party, you’ve now just personally insulted a person. This person will knee-jerk react as if you’ve slapped their baby. To me, this makes no goddamn sense. Just like you are not what you do to put food on your table, you also are not who you vote for. Those in power have zero fucks to give about you. Why do you have so many to give to them?
We’re so desperate for affirmation that “we’re right” that we only watch and read the news outlets that align with our own views.
Following is easy. Thinking is hard. That’s why so few do it.
I’m of no political party. I don’t even register as an Independent, as that’s now a party. I’m a fiscal conservative/social liberal and there’s no party for us. When I vote, I sit in front of a laptop for hours with my ballot and I’m all over the place. Republican, Democrat, Independent, Green, Libertarian. I research each candidate’s HISTORY…what their actions have been. Not what they promise. Normally, I feel the president is a figurehead and it’s everyone underneath in our Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches that matter the most.
Our last presidential election has proved me wrong.
I’m going to chunk random thoughts on current events and regarding storming the Capitol, which was indeed a historic day in America:
-Many have said they never thought they’d see what happened in DC happen in our country. I did. I’ve been waiting for YEARS and I’m shocked it hasn’t happened sooner. I now realize the only reason it hasn’t is that we’re worked to death and too tired and distracted to pay attention to the many ways we’ve been getting fucked over, no matter what administration is in office. Unfortunately, most still think this is all a current issue. It’s not. They don’t realize that the history of actions (or NON-actions) has led us to this point. We can be very short-sighted and happy to blame others rather than looking to ourselves as the problem.
We are as responsible for what happened as anyone. Patriot Act. Getting rid of Net Neutrality. Blue gold. Eco issues. Piggyback laws. Sockpuppet accounts. I could go on. But very few pay attention outside of their little bubble. It’s only now that people are home, able to learn a bit and see how other countries treat their citizens, that they are upset.
Well…it took you long enough. I’ve been waiting for the goddamn revolution since the first Bush era. You’re not “Woke.” It’s just a tee shirt in your wardrobe.
But I do wish this happened under different circumstances.
-I don’t condone the violence. Let me repeat that: I do not condone the violence. However, lawmakers – without term limits – make laws for us, the common people, regarding healthcare, public schools, unions…things they don’t even use. They aren’t us. They don’t understand how it works. They have no idea how it is to fight with your insurance company, the soul-sucking energy, how many calls we have to make to do so…because they don’t have to do it.
These lawmakers keep making shitty laws based on finances rather than morals because they can. They only see the bottom line, not the reality. They don’t care, because they don’t use the systems we use.
I think it’s not necessarily a bad thing that they’ve come face to face with armed, angry Americans and now realize how vulnerable they are. They should be afraid of us, we shouldn’t be afraid of them. It’s forgotten that we pay their salary, and they are public servants. We are not heard. That, I feel, is a huge mistake. I’m shocked it’s taken this long for an uprising. We are a massive country with a lot of guns. Not listening is something I would advise against.
-We pay billions of dollars in defense and yet, a group was able to storm the Capitol in a matter of hours. WTF?
-Some knew this would happen. The military had been deployed earlier to Washington. DC knew it was likely to happen, too.
-If this group were black, more than just a few people would have been killed during those hours. And speaking of, we’re so interested in learning WHY they stormed the Capitol…and this is good. But why are we not equally as interested in learning about why Black Lives Matter is a movement? Instead, we make up shitty memes and spread false lies about it. How hard is it to have a conversation and really listen? Colin Kaepernick risked his entire career to make a peaceful statement, which was his protected right…and that turned into “he hates the military, he’s disrespected them, he needs to be fired”.
My whole family is military, a couple S.O.’s have been military, I grew up on military bases. I fully supported his right to protest was absolutely slaughtered for writing about it.
This movement has been about one thing: police brutality – with a side dish of lack of equality. In a nutshell: Human Rights.
For those who don’t understand the term “white privilege” (and I *really* hate this term)…here you go: It’s the fact that you (and your children) can storm the capital and know you will not get killed. It’s not about the fact that you came from nothing, had an absentee parent, went to public school, got your ass (or more) beaten on a regular basis, and worked hard for everything you have. That’s me. That’s many of you as well. Our backgrounds are not unlike many blacks who had it rough growing up. That’s undeniable. But our color is. We can get pulled over or go jogging at night through a nice neighborhood wearing a hoody and we won’t get killed.
“But they did this and they did that…” No. Stop.
Here’s the root of the problem: Too many people said how terrible it was that cities and businesses were getting destroyed because an unarmed man was shot. What we need to say: It’s terrible that an unarmed man was shot, so therefore cities and businesses got destroyed. Action…reaction.
We value life, right?
The problem is, people don’t care until their own shit gets fucked up. Then…they’re all ears.
It wasn’t MLK who got people to listen. It was Malcolm X. Is it not ridiculous that decades later, it still goes on?
BLM isn’t something you paste to your FB page like a trending fashion statement. And trust me…your friends of color see who does and doesn’t truly understand that.
-I don’t think a few extremists who stormed the Capitol represent an entire party, and I think it’s wrong to take this out on every Republican. I don’t think either side is the stereotype portrayed by the media, which serves to divide. Divided, we fall.
-We value free speech so much, it’s the very first amendment in our Constitution. Yet, the censoring has been going on for a while and sets a dangerous precedent. We’ve seen plenty of it on Facebook, where the term “Facebook Jail” has been coined. Who decides what can be said or posted? Who suspends accounts? They hide behind the “privatized company” and “TOS” to justify doing whatever they please, but they’re still founded on the principles of free speech and are opting to shit all over that. EVERYTHING in America is privatized and corporate-owned. If this is the way it’s going, free speech will cease to exist except on street corners and in public squares.
Frankly, I find it un-American and the equivalent to digital book burning, except in 3 situations:
1. Spreading fake news. Napoleon was of average height for his era, but he was so good at what he did, the British decided to attack his character instead, saying he was short. It’s stuck…even now. That’s how dangerous fake news is.
2. Inciting violence and terrorism…which is what our president has done. You can be a Republican and not approve of the way Trump has handled things.
3. Porn. And by porn, I mean the true XXX definition: anything that shows insertion and/or the exchange of bodily fluids. All else is Erotica. What’s titillating to one may not be to another. It’s very subjective. There are people who get excited over feet and armpits. Are we going to rip down all barefoot photos and anything baring pits next? When does it stop?
The world was built on nude statues, naked art, and expression. This is both healthy and natural.
“We live in a world where we have to hide love, while violence is practiced in broad daylight.”
Porn should be behind a paywall so those who are earning a living can actually EARN. No one grows up thinking, “I know…I’ll be a porn star!” For fucks sake, let them earn their dollars.
-I feel banning President Trump was the right thing to do. When free speech crosses over into inciting violence and hurting others, that’s an issue, especially from someone in a position of power like he is. With great power comes great responsibility. Yes, that’s a Spiderman quote, but that doesn’t make it any less true. Trump has had makings of a dictator, and there’s a core group of people who devotedly follow him like an enslaved cult, drinking all the Fresca they can. It’s more than a little scary.
I don’t understand that love, or what he’s done to earn it. I can’t list 4 things in the years since he’s been our leader to make me feel devoted. Feel free to point out the accomplishments. I honestly mean this because I’m curious and open-minded. I love that he passed The Farm Bill. At times, I feel he was unnecessarily crucified because of severe dislike and I think his sarcasm was twisted. There are times he’s said things that were good advice but crapped on…because it came from him.
I don’t have any emotional stake in politics. Neither should you. Events happen. It’s up to us to allow them to affect us personally. We cannot separate our personal feelings from events or advice and that’s a detriment. It’s also an ego issue.
-I don’t think there’s time to invoke the 25th Amendment, and it could be a waste of taxpayer money. Hopefully, more damage isn’t done in the days leading up to Biden’s inauguration. I feel for Pence, he’s got a lot on his shoulders. Except overturning an election. He never had that kind of power and it was unfair to throw him under a bus and state that.
-I feel our lack of education has led us to believe way too much. We should have more common sense, rationality, and stoicism. But believing ridiculousness has led to anger, frustration, and depression. For those who can think, see the bigger picture, the moderates…we really want to punch the rest of you in the face. Hard.
(Except for those of you who actually take the time to listen and think. You peeps are cool – and rare breeds.)
For us, politics don’t bring us down. YOU do. Your never-ending hostile assaults and weird energy force us off social media, make us avoid emails…we just want to retreat for preservation. It costs us work, bookings, and business opportunities. Thanks for that. Life isn’t difficult enough or anything.
-Dear Conspiracy Theorists…please stop. You’re ruining it for those of us who are actual conspiracy theorists. The ones who do real investigative research with credible sources, speak to people in the field, study history. We don’t just watch a few YouTube videos done by some ranting idiot and call ourselves “an expert”. I understand the lack of trust in the government. I really do. Not being a lemming is healthy. But not EVERYTHING is a conspiracy. Sometimes Occam’s Razor really is the correct theory.
–“Are you (we, the country) better off now than you were four years ago?” – Ronald Reagan. This is the question Reagan asked that won him the election. I believe that answer is a resounding no. I don’t feel Biden won…I just think Trump lost. Wouldn’t it be great to vote for someone instead of against the other guy?
But that’s OUR fault. We set our standards for leaders so unrealistically high, it’s beyond stupid. We would never elect anyone who is fallible like us. You smoked pot? We’ll splash that all over 679 news cycles. You were divorced? Oh my fucking god. You were never married? What’s wrong with you??? You sent nudes to your partner? What a whore. Did you use to be an alcoholic? He/she must be weak. You’re under a certain age? Inexperienced. Over a certain age? One foot in the grave. You’re a smaller man? Bitch. You’re a stronger woman? Bitch. You can’t spell Aleppo? Unforgivable! Meanwhile, 90% of Americans not only can’t spell it, but they cannot locate it on the map. (They also don’t know the difference between you’re/your, to/too, then/than. Fucking hypocrites.) Your kid is a fuck-up? OMG, so is mine…but somehow it’s only you who is the loser here.
What we put these prospective candidates and their families through is shameful. No SANE person in their right mind would take this job. And it is OUR FAULT. We have to stop being moronic dicks so we can get someone to lead who isn’t.
-I don’t understand the fear of Biden. The man was already at the helm for 8 very tumultuous years and we ended up fine.
-We need to stop the divide and stop being manipulated and used by the media. Stop insulting everyone who isn’t what we are: our voting party, our religion, our race. It’s beyond elitist – and it’s the behavior of a shitty human being. It’s not Christian. It’s not Humanist. It’s just shittarded.
-Why do we still have limited sick days and very little vacation time? Why aren’t we pushing to change that? We now know that you cannot limit sick days. Study after study proves we’re more productive with more time off.
-Workplaces are tiny kingdoms and dictatorships. Bosses have way too much power, and if you’re in a Right to Work State, you can be fired for no reason at all. Then you lose your healthcare. This is COMPLETE FUCKING BULLSHIT. How can people not SEE this? NO OTHER COUNTRY DOES IT THIS WAY – for a reason. It’s quite literally inhumane.
So, why are we allowing workplaces to have so much power? Then, we’re angry and feel powerless, so we take it out on those around us or assume everything else runs the same way. We need to UNITE to fix things. We spent so much time at work…most of our lives. Get that shit fixed.
If you want to revolt, I’ve given you multiple ideas that are worthwhile. Work. Vacation time. Equality. Net Neutrality. Repealing the Patriot Act. Unaddressed eco issues.
Fight for things that REALLY MATTER and affect all of us, our quality of life, and our privacy.
If you can handle a few more harsh truths about our society:
-A lot of people *think* they want more friends or a significant other, but they don’t. They aren’t willing to do the work that’s involved in cultivating real relationships. Social media relations are easier: they’re on YOUR time. Convenient. One-sided. Real relationships take time, effort, compromise, trust, commitment, and energy. Most people like the idea, not the reality. So, they would rather play on their phones.
-If you take the easy choices, you’ll lead a hard life. If you make the hard choices, you’ll lead an easy life.
-Intimacy isn’t sex. It has nothing to do with sex. It’s being vulnerable, letting your guard down. Into Me, See. It’s letting someone see *the real you.* Any animal can fuck. It’s really not that special. But it’s hard to let people in and be emotionally open, to bare your soul, to risk being rejected or judged…hurt. Everyone wants to be seen as so strong. No one is that strong. We love characters in films because of their flaws. That’s what makes them relatable. But you must hone your intuition and judgment skills *first* in order to choose those around you wisely. You can only do that by opting for silence, quieting your mind. Stay distracted and you won’t see.
Most people give up trying because they’re scared. Fear is the killer of all dreams, including love.
-People who are easily offended have low self-esteem.
-Much of what I admonish on here I’ve done. To be older and wiser is to first be young and stupid.
-I’m tired of the dumb. I’m tired of the misinformation. I’m tired of the hypocrites. I’m tired of the anger and violence. And I’m tired of people not taking responsibility for their own actions or lack of.
We’re humans. Not the party we vote for. Not what we do for a living. Not the color of our skin.
Stripped down, we’re all pretty much the same. You are not special. Neither am I. It’s time we realize this.
Those who do not learn history are condemned to repeat it.
Empires fall. If we don’t change our behavior immediately, we are next.
Before people start getting all “Put Christ back in Christmas” like they do every year around this time (with monotonous regularity), maybe we should first understand that Christmas *is* for everyone. YAY!
And that’s because our most beloved holiday traditions originate from pagan religions and *have nothing to do with Christianity.* The winter solstice or Yule (December 21st or 22nd) existed long before Christianity…and so did wreaths. Mistletoe. Holly. Odin/All-Father. Romans giving gifts during the Festival of Saturnia. Wassailing. Green Leaves and Red Berries. Group Singing. The Yule Log. Candles. Flying Reindeer.
That’s right…presents, a Christmas tree, decorating, caroling, and Father Christmas are all pagan in origin. Those naughty pagans had some stellar ideas! Yule was (re)branded Christmas (“mass on Christ’s day”) by the Catholics, but there’s actually *nothing* in the bible that states Dec 25th as Jesus’ birthday — nor has there ever been any evidence of this date being his day of birth. (Most historians feel it was sometime in the Spring due to the sheep tending schedule.) It’s really just a random day that was chosen to celebrate the birth. Church officials likely settled on the 25th to coincide with existing pagan festivals honoring Saturn and Mithra. That way, it became easier to convince pagan subjects to accept Christianity as the empire’s official religion. The first three centuries of Christianity didn’t celebrate Christmas at all, opting for Epiphany (January 6th) instead.
When Catholics aggressively started their conversion campaign, pagans declined…to put it politely. So, an agreement to blend time-honored pagan traditions with the Catholic version of Christmas was approved. This “convert or kill the infidel” process was actually quite horrible and referred to as “The Dark Ages” – for a reason. Forced conversion, seizure of property or assets, destruction of property and revered grounds, brutal killings, destruction of historical sites and statues, burning sacred texts, and much worse occurred.
Christianity has a long, violent, and bloody history that rivals terrorism. Anything that wasn’t Christian — including science, medicine, and free thought — was deemed heretical and violently suppressed. (Hence why we still don’t know much about religious history.) Goddesses were banned and women were no longer seen as (near) equals in regions where they had been.
The Norse (Vikings) were the last to hold out against conversion and fought mightily. Many are still multi-theistic or Deist pagans and religions such as Asatro, Wicca, and a Druid/Christianity hybrid are still going strong today.
Pagan beliefs tend to align with nature and being a humanitarian rather than prioritizing capitalism or turning to humans instead of Spirit for a connection.
Additional Odd Religious Fact Most May Not Know: In medieval times, priests were able to marry and have children. One day in the year 1139, after the Catholic Church had grown weary of people leaving property and fortunes to the collared ones, marriage was outlawed, current marriages were annulled, and effective immediately, all children were declared bastards. The church became wealthy.
Let’s recap, shall we?
Since there was no Christ in Yule to begin with, and Christmas is just Yule with a different name — nor does this time-frame accurately reflect Jesus’ birthday (according to biblical fact) — this holiday is not just for Christians.
And we should probably stop with the “putting Christ back into it” thing. That just makes people sound ignorant.
But Christ (without the long mass, please…) is most welcome to the party now!
I wrote about this because so many of us believe the history of Christmas IS Christmas…that it’s always been this way. The origin of Christmas/Yule has a rich history with fun, colorful traditions, and many lives were destroyed and lost in order to keep those beliefs going.
We carry on these pagan traditions but aren’t aware of the origins.It’s been buried and hardly spoken of, to the point where people get belligerent when mentioned (NO! YOU ARE WRONG!), truly believing that you’re lying, trying to ruin their faith, or disrespect Jesus. This is not the case at all. This history exists and I think we should learn it, just like we learn about the Holocaust. Tribes and tribes of people were slaughtered because of their religion if they didn’t convert. If that’s not lesson-worthy, I don’t know what is. These are our ancestors.
Oddly enough, the only people I’ve met who aren’t pagan and are aware of the history are Catholics. They must teach it in schools or churches. If so, well done. “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
Lost history is tragic. It could be us next time.
*Mistletoe kiss.* Have a cool Yule!
Photography: Steven Griffey. Models: April Hunter & Michael Middel
April K. Hunter is a television writer, short story author, copywriter, blogger, and primarily writes thrillers and memoirs. She has her B.F.A. in Creative Writing for Entertainment and her work appears in a variety of publications, including RxMuscle, Page & Spine, Medium, and European Journal FONT. Her first book, UNDISCLOSED DARKNESS can be found on Smashwords and Barnes & Noble.
A model and pro wrestler, she’s currently a part-time superhero at geek conventions, Mother of Chickens, and owned by one spoiled rotten corgi. When not crafting stories, she is learning something new each day or scouring the internet for funny memes while drinking too much coffee.
You could post about puppies or a lemonade stand and sooner or later, it will turn it into a political divide.
I have a theory. Ego.
As much as people claim they hate labels, they don’t. People love labels so much that if these titles were human, they’d be whisked off to Vegas and married in a little chapel by Elvis. For the sake of this article, I’ll say “we” (but I kinda mostly mean you.) We define ourselves with a variety of tidy markers that make sense to us and others. Liberal, Conservative. Vegan, Paleo. Christian, Atheist. Straight, Gay. Actor, Builder. Mother, Father. Husband, Wife. And so on. Some people even allow their illnesses to define them.
Part of why a breakup can be devastating is because we’ve lost our identity. We’re no longer a girlfriend or boyfriend, stepmom or stepdad. We’re set adrift, left to gather ourselves. We can recover like a party animal or an athlete. Some jump right back into anything, immersing themselves in destructive behavior in order to avoid feeling lost. Others reassess and get healthy by leaving the hurt area alone to heal while working out other areas instead.
I digress. When a discussion on social media about ANYTHING turns political, it’s nothing but ego. This is a person asserting their label rather than “I” into the conversation. And depending on the tone, it often means, “YOU are the problem. I am not. I am better than you.”
The reason we get offended and engage rather than staying silent and/or rational? Because at some deeper level, we recognize that this person has insulted us. They’ve shit on who we’ve decided we are.
There’s an enormous difference between reacting and responding. Most of us lack the ability to step back and look at the bigger picture in a neutral, removed fashion. We lash out and cling to our beliefs because they ARE us. They define us.
But they don’t have to. It’s a choice. And if my theory is correct, you have the choice to recognize this next time someone turns a casual discussion about buying patio furniture into a split sided political argument.
There are 2 types of people: Those who want to know, and those who want to believe.
Everything is an exchange of energy. Currently, we’re a fractured country and we all know we shouldn’t continue down this path. Too many would rather be RIGHT than happy, which lends itself to the anxious and hostile energy many have been experiencing.
Hurt people hurt people.
If only one person gets something out of this, the time spent writing was worthwhile.
Once upon a time, there was a lovely princess with long red hair and a short-legged dog. She ruled Castle Huntress quite efficiently. Her wares sold, she frolicked by the water with her little dog, and the villagers spoke well of her. “Oh, yes. This is our favorite princess yet! She has a generous nature and a very naughty sense of humor,” said they.
But after hundreds and hundreds of days alone, she began to seek a Prince. Not because she needed one, mind you, but because she had no one with whom to laugh.
Word got out, and soon the village was buzzing. A notice arrived from Prince Haddad of Romania with the offer of companionship. He was tall, dark, and handsome. The prince was also an accomplished warrior who frequented the battlefields. She, a former warrior in her own right, felt a kinship. After all, blood is thicker than water. Following an exchange of letters, the princess accepted.
But he did not appear. She inquired as to his absence and he replied with, “Soon, my dear. For now, I must fight.”
She couldn’t wait for his return from battle, for they had much in common and plenty to talk about. Their letters were never a bore, and they conversed endlessly about everything. The prince made her laugh, was well-traveled, and had a quick wit. He seemed perfect for her.
However, the days turned into nights, and the nights turned into days as the princess sat by the window, brushing her long, red hair and petting her short, black dog. She watched the leaves turn crimson and drop. Then, the snow flurries came and blustered forth. Eventually, spring brought new life and the same promises. “Soon, my dear.”
The princess’s hair grew longer, and her dog grew shorter.
Lady Amy and Lady Susan came to tea. They both agreed, the Prince should be there. If he wanted to see the Princess of Huntress Castle, he would find a way. “Actions are telling,” they warned. The princess did not want to hear their words, but she could not deny them.
Instead, she filled her time with art, entertaining, selling her wares, and tending to her affairs, but she spent most days and nights in solitude.
On a warm day when the sun was high in the sky, she sat by the window watching the clouds form the shapes of postal letters that said, “My dear, I’m on my way.” They burst apart before she could grab one.
Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a voice with an accent from a land far away.
“Oi, Princess! Your hair is like fire!” She looked down and saw the Duke Liggitt of Birmingham. He stood below her window with a toothy grin and gazed up at her through spectacles. Though he was slighter in stature, he was reputed to have a robust character and a heart so vast it could fill a castle, along with a title from the Shah dynasty.
“Is it?” She asked. Admittedly, not her wittiest response, but she was quite out of practice, having only spoken to her little dog for days on end.
“Christ on a bike, you’re beautiful,” he said as he bowed and pulled forth a striking white rose swirled with hues of pink, red, and violet. “I’ve traveled a great distance to request the pleasure of your company, and behold, I would be willing to travel even further after setting eyes upon you. I should like to take you dancing. We’ll have such fun!”
“Return as the sun sets,” the princess said. “If my answer is yes, I shall meet you in the foyer.”
Now, the princess was in a quandary. Wait for the handsome prince or dance. Wait…or dance. Her heart was torn. Suitors had called after Prince Haddad, but none were as charming as he or the Duke.
As the clock chimed behind her, her little dog yawned with its greying muzzle glinting in the sunlight, and a vision of her mother on her deathbed appeared. “Don’t be a fool, child. Time is the most valuable thing, meant to be spent, not squandered. Go.”
She knew her mother was right. As she gathered all her hair, the post arrived with another letter from Prince Haddad. “The fight goes on. There’s much to be done. I’ll be there as soon as I can, my dear.” She sighed as she placed the letter atop of the pile of his other correspondences, which mounted several feet in height on her boudoir.
It was just a night of dancing. She could always return early to the castle with the explanation that she simply must walk her short dog by a preferred hour.
As the sun sank in the glowing sky, she stood tall in the ornate foyer, clad in her best dancing slippers. Encrusted in shimmering beads and stones, her servant had given the shoes a quick dust-off before he opened the door with a flourish to reveal the awaiting Marquess of Birmingham, decked out in his finest.
“Good evening, Duke,” the princess said with a curtsey as she held out her hand to be kissed. “I am ready.”
Bipolar Disorder is extraordinarily dangerous. And even more misunderstood. It’s not just ups and downs in moods casually compared to weather changes.
Even on the magic mix of stabilizing medications, I still have swings and perceive things differently.
Thankfully, the meds allow me to question my own mind and be patient before having knee-jerk reactions. I can respond, not react. But I do automatically go to dark places and worst case scenario.
It is a daily struggle…often a battle…with my own mind. Just to function requires making a conscious choice about everything. Energy, diet, who I am around, shutting off news channels, removing negative feeds from my social media, daily exercise whether I feel like it or not, the colors of my home (calming shades)… And much more. Even with all these things, there can be issues. I work for myself. I don’t think I could work for anyone else and conform to those hours. Some days I can’t work at all. The side effects from the medications suck. They’re horrible. And, they’ve created a form of ADHD that is incredibly difficult to manage and I cannot take anything for it because it will throw me manic. Spoon Theory is a real thing. Google it.
Most people don’t understand this, but bipolar disorder also comes with a host of other physical issues, usually cardiovascular-related. The chemicals that are out of whack in us often cause lung and heart issues or autoimmune diseases such as lupus. Even if we don’t kill ourselves, we tend to die much younger due to side effects of bipolar disorder such as bronchitis, pneumonia, heart problems, etc.
About half of us have had suicide attempts, successful or not. I’m pretty sure 100% of us have considered it. Because no matter where you go or what you do, you are still bipolar. It affects every single aspect of your life…everything you do. Every relationship, your work/career, even sleeping, as rapid, pinging thoughts can be difficult to shut off.
There is no cure and the medications can be brutally expensive. The therapy is costly, and no one seems interested in fixing these defects in our health system, so this could be one reason why so many go off their meds. Being stabilized and healthy is very expensive. America seems more interested in profiting than helping when it comes to mental illness.
It is also dangerous for the people around us because we can be tough to live with. I think one of the absolute worst things about bipolar disorder is how people say they are okay with it until they see it. And then they aren’t. They don’t get educated about it and they don’t really understand that it’s the disease, not the person.
It can make us feel incredibly isolated, misunderstood, frustrated, and rejected.
I don’t really think anyone with bipolar disorder wants to die. We just don’t want to live like this any longer. We don’t want to inflict pain on others or deal with the mindfuckery. Sometimes the best way to save yourself and save the people around you seems to be to end it. “Normal” people mostly cannot understand this.
It’s a really weird thing when you can’t trust your own mind. When you can’t tell what’s real and what’s not…when you are trying to perceive what someone means or your feelings – and you’re well aware that you’re bipolar and that you could be taking everything the wrong way. It’s confusing. It can make you distrust…not just yourself, but others.
However, I can say from personal experience that the medications changed my life for the better – probably saved me – and oddly enough, every time I think about dying it makes me appreciate living. So here I am.
One of the beautiful things about having bipolar disorder is seeing life in vibrant colors most can’t visualize. We are also an intelligent, artsy group of people. The same chemicals that mess us up are the very same chemicals that make us incredibly creative and quick-thinking.
Here’s another odd fact: people with mental disorders are far more likely to be in full time, loving relationships than those without mental disorders. The truth is, no matter what they SAY, people like crazy. 😉
If you or someone you love has bipolar disorder, I think the trick is to harness those creative talents, find a way to be as self-employed as possible, chose healthy lifestyle options, stay away from negative stuff (it can really have a bad impact on people like us), and life can be very good.
And here’s the weirdest thing of all…I often ask myself this question: If I could take it away and be normal, would I? The answer is always a resounding “no.” As difficult and punishing as this disorder is, it has also allowed me to live a very unique, ballsy, brave life that most need copious amounts of alcohol to even attempt. I’ve followed my dreams instead of settling for a paycheck. I see the world in high def. I’m not afraid to live outside the social norms and color outside the lines.
For that, I’m eternally grateful to this uniquely heavy genetic disease that I wouldn’t wish on anyone and wouldn’t take a chance on passing on by having children.
And only someone who is bipolar can understand that statement.
April K. Hunter is an author and freelance content creator. She has her B.F.A. in Creative Writing for Entertainment and her work appears in a variety of publications, including RxMuscle, Page & Spine, Medium, and European Journal FONT. Her first book, UNDISCLOSED DARKNESS can be found on Smashwords and Barnes & Noble.
A model and pro wrestler, she’s currently a part-time superhero at geek conventions, Mother of Chickens and owned by one spoiled rotten corgi. When not crafting stories, she is learning something new each day or scouring the internet for funny memes while drinking too much coffee.
After Life is a comedy about depression and suicide that’s surprisingly relatable. Comedians have always tried to push the “how deep can I go into rabbit hole and still be funny” bar. Ricky Gervais, who wrote, directed and stars in the show, pulls it off brilliantly as he gives us the darkest of British black comedies about Plan B. One can almost envision Gervais sitting across from a Netflix executive with a toothy grin and a dare in his voice. “I’ll bet you six exclusive episodes that I can make suicide funny, mate.”
What’s Plan B, you ask? Well, let’s rewind.
Tony, a local journalist in a small town, is an angry, sad widower because the wonderful life he’d had with his wife of twenty-five years, Lisa, was completely shattered when she died from cancer.
Each episode starts off with Tony viewing one of Lisa’s video messages recorded from her hospital room advising him how to live after her death. “You’re useless,” she says. “Don’t forget to program the alarm so the dog won’t set it off and do the washing up.” Tony plods into the kitchen where he ignores a heaping stack of food-encrusted dishes to search a near-empty cupboard for something to feed the dog. A tin of beans suffices.
After Life is brutally candid, but not offensive. His unending portrayal of pain and misery might be depressing if his irritation were not so funny. Tony says and does all the things we want to but can’t. His excuse: “Well, there’s always Plan B. I do and say whatever the f*ck I want and if it doesn’t work out, I’ll just kill myself.” And we believe it. He shops for one can of dog food at a time. There are multiple botched attempts. At no point do you ever feel he’s not morbidly serious about taking his own life. “Oh, no, what will he do now?” is the pervasive mood.
Tony leaves his house and refuses to take mail handed to him by the Pat the postman, insisting the worker walk the last few steps to his door and deliver it properly. When two kids with a weapon attempt a mugging, he doesn’t hesitate to punch one of them in the mouth, because who cares if they stab him? Yet, despite Tony being a jerk, he’s not unlikeable. He speaks harsh truths, which are in fact, truths. He loyally visits his father with advanced Alzheimer’s in the nursing home even though “Where’s Lisa?” is repeatedly (and painfully) enquired. No matter how down and out he is, Tony puts the needs of his dog above himself. He meets a prostitute on the streets (“Sex worker!”) who offers to do anything he wants for fifty quid. He agrees…and has her clean his house. Then, he offers her tea.
The local newspaper Tony works for covers a new feature story in each episode that borders on the ridiculous and lends endless humor to the series along with an appreciation for the banal in life. Tony’s coworkers debate deep subjects not usually touched on in comedies such as religion, life and love.
While visiting his wife’s plot, he befriends a cheerful widow (played by Penelope Wilton, best known as Isobel Crawley in Downton Abbey) who becomes a mentor, full of wise advice on how to keep going and not squander life away.
We see valid consequences for Tony’s harsh actions several times, including his brother-in-law threatening to never let him see his nephew again. After Life can also be lesson in loyalty and friendship when dealing with a depressed loved one, as Tony’s friends patiently tolerate his moods and lashing out, never turning their backs on him. However, after a particularly harrowing event, Tony realizes he’s gone too far and might lose them too, which is his turning point.
Among other topics, the short series explores heroin use and assisted suicide, but underneath the gloom and doom is a steady current of sweetness and charm. Our anti-hero learns how to cope and makes a comeback with more than a little help from his friends and Plan B never comes to fruition. Yes, Tony – hope really is everything.
Fans of other Gervais’ other works will enjoy seeing quite a few familiar faces. Ashley Jensen (Maggie on Extras) was a stellar addition to the show. Unlike films, which he’s come under fire for in recent years, Gervais is at his best at the helm of a TV series, which gives him the time to expand character development, and this is quite possibly his best show to date.
From desolate to revived, we’re given an authentic portrayal of the struggle to recover after devastating loss. After Life confidently walks the fine line of pushing new boundaries and dark comedy like no one has successfully done before.
Thank you, Ricky Gervais, for giving us something real we can relate to.
Watch After Life exclusively on Netflix.
**Right after I posted, Ricky Gervais responded. I won’t lie………SO COOL.
I write about things that inspire me, and anger/frustration is a primary source. I avoid the news for many reasons: To be happy, mostly. But the majority of it is there to fill 24 hours with train wrecks to keep us watching in order to keep advertising rates high. When rates dip, news channels go for the jugular. Fear is always a winning tactic.
As a journalist, you learn the tricks. The first thing we’re taught in school…
Crying moms = ratings.
That was written across the chalkboard on day one. Our job is to produce as much of that as possible.
I wrote this out of frustration (hence the caps and prolific use of the word “fuck”) after seeing so many repeatedly getting it wrong on Twitter and Facebook. I’m continually shocked by our refusal to get educated on a subject before we spout off. But it’s an epidemic now since we’re spouting off to others who are equally as ignorant…and the pot of shit just keeps swirling around with the communal wooden spoon of ridiculousness until it boils over and spills onto everyone’s cooktop.
This was written for Facebook to wake up friends and I’m sharing it here.
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Here is why the wall and the shutdown is complete bullshit, no matter who you voted for:
If you build a wall, they will dig a tunnel. Actually, most illegals fly in on guest visas and just stay. We’re missing the real issue, the bigger picture here. WE DON’T NEED A WALL. WE NEED TO FIX IMMIGRATION.
I’ve been through it. It’s a horrible, time consuming, EXPENSIVE process for 1 person. A family of 4? Ha. Hahahaha. It took over 2 years and almost $2000. If you count a required trip to Vancouver for an interview with the Canadian government to start the process, then it cost over $4000. And we got in before America jacked the fees. Now many spend $10,000. The US lost our case files. LOST them. Twice. I learned this is common and they’ve attached GPS trackers to papers in recent years. You can’t leave America while everything is processing — for years — not even if your mom dies. It nullifies everything. You must be sponsored. While I don’t condone illegal immigration, I certainly understand it now.
Most people have no idea how broken our system is. If we fix it, we can make it affordable, vetted, tax paying and legal. We can allow those in at an affordable fee who will offer the country something: a skill, talent, art, business. Our wall will be Green Cards. THE GOVERNMENT — We The People — the ones who work FOR US, the public servants we pay — have a duty to fix a broken system for the better of us all. Instead, they squabble like 14-year-old children, throw out fake “stats”, focus on what the other party is doing wrong and divide our stupid country full of lemmings (yes, that’s what you are if you believe what comes out of a screen instead of doing real, credible research from a .edu or .org) rather than working together to use our valuable resources WE PAY INTO to fix the issue together. As the elected body they’re supposed to be – you know, as the elected body they’re supposed to be.
Ironically, this was the estimation when it was bothered to be done: Immigration reform would cost $18 billion dollars. It would GENERATE $48 billion dollars in new revenue for the United States, mostly through increased social security taxes, since most immigrants would be younger, thus paying into our system and not collecting.
In other words, legal immigrants would a) generate far more than they would take and b) not work cut-rate jobs under the table, thus allowing for a higher minimum wage and more (probably shitty) jobs for Americans (who might not want them, but love to fight about having the option.) By contrast, the wall is more accurately estimated to cost over $21 billion. It’s not rocket science.
THIS is why Americans should get their heads out of their asses and be upset over the wall and the shutdown. But most are too ignorant and uneducated to know what’s really going on. If one is ignorant these days, it’s a choice.Everyone knows the media is slanted one way or another depending on the channel. Therefore, everyone also knows the media isn’t correct and they need proper facts and information elsewhere.”Fake News” is a household term.
You should be fucking pissed. Frustrated. Angry. Not at people who are the opposite party, but at the fuckwits in office who aren’t doing their jobs they’re being paid for by the money taken from YOUR PAYCHECK. We are literally paying them to do nothing but divide the country and live on the government provided social programs they condemn.
We live in a cloud of ignorance, blindly accepting what’s spoon-fed to us from whatever screen we watch. We are either “cold-hearted cunts and lack empathy”…or we take to social media with too much outrage and “bleeding hearts” over something we know absolutely NOTHING about and have never personally experienced.
It’s never that cut and dried. NEVER.Life is shades of grey. Step back. See the bigger picture. Stop letting a screen brainwash you to the point where you alienate the ones around you. While not everyone can experience immigration (thank God), learn about it before you become a keyboard warrior based on a headline/screen blurb and nothing else.
A true opinion can only come from experience and education. It cannot be fed to you. That is called parroting.
We don’t need more hostility. We don’t need a wall. We don’t need Americans, who mostly live paycheck to paycheck, going without paychecks. We need people to get educated, stand up, and to demand that their government fix the REAL issue, immigration. As long as we’re divided and infighting, they can do whatever they want and spend as much as they please.
Rome was unbelievably ahead of its time. Infighting and divide are what destroyed it. We’re on the same path.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” — George Santayana
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For the record, I’m of no political affiliation.
Thanks for reading.
April K. Hunteris a television writer, short story author, copywriter, blogger, and primarily writes thrillers and memoirs. She attends Full Sail University for her degree in Creative Writing for Entertainment. Her work appears in a variety of publications, including RxMuscle, Page & Spine, Medium, and European Journal FONT. Her first book, UNDISCLOSED DARKNESS can be found on Smashwords and Barnes & Noble.
A model, cosplayer and professional wrestler, she’s currently a part-time superhero at geek conventions, Mother of Chickens and owned by one spoiled rotten corgi. When not crafting stories, she is learning something new each day or scouring the internet for funny memes while drinking too much coffee.
Putting The Clothes On, Taking The Gloves Off. 
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