Mind control

Here's my secret fear regarding The Secret--did you watch it, along with everyone else? It's the pop-psychology DVD that was so widely touted on Oprah as one of those life-changers that you see once and then believe "if I just alter my thoughts I can have whatever I want!" And then a week later you're back to zoning out on too much mind-numbing TV and being as annoyed as ever that chip bags are so difficult to open, what with the advances in engineering and particle colliders and all--and everything's the same, except now you feel guilty.

But what if there's a kernel of truth to the whole premise behind The Secret? And here I am, and here we all are, going on and on about Sarah Sarah Sarah. About how she put a tanning bed in the governor's mansion, and charged the state for nights she spent in her own house, how sick we are of "thanks, but no thanks" and "in what respect, Charlie?" All that. And the more you think about something the more energy you give it. So maybe Palin is feeding off of our thoughts, be they positive or negative, and is gaining power like some creepy sci-fi monster sucking out our life force...

Anne Lamott writing for Salon says put the focus back on Obama, give him the energy, not the other side. And the hopeful part of me thinks, yes! Talk about his policies, what he can do for this country, how it's time for a clean slate and a fresh start. Except right now all I want to do is mock people, and expose their ethical snafus, and be righteously indignant. I can't seem to help it. Frankly, a post on Obama and his message of hope might be kind of *gulp* boring. And he does a great job of it himself on his website, I must say. And yes, this morning I surprised myself by getting choked up like a dummy while I was looking at said site because it just felt good and I want there to be someone who represents something that I can believe in in the white house. So while I can't say I'll be giving up the mocking tone of Me for VP anytime soon, maybe I will balance it out occasionally with what I'll call "happy posts." When I'm not on the computer I promise to meditate on visions of Barack giving his poignant, eloquent acceptance speech in November.