Am I the only one who feels like crawling into a hole & never coming out?

[happyWImom]

Or at least moving far into the mountains with my family, living self sustainably and cutting ourselves off from the world????:w00t:

 

I feel like I can't watch the news because I'll be upset or worried (especially the future of my dc), I get all of these emails on how religion is being taken out of everything, the UW system in our state is doing late term abortions, and then I just read the post on the UN Rights of the Child treaty. I just want to be happy!!!

 

I know-that's selfish, I need to not just think about myself and my family (and I don't-really), and we can't sit by and let certain things happen, we need to be involved- but some days, don't you just want to crawl in a hole?

 

Maybe I'm PMSing, I don't know. Sigh.

[Parrothead]

No, not really. When it gets to me I start making lists and figuring out ways to be prepared for when it hits the fan. Maybe I need a hobby.

 

I hope you don't feel overwhelmed by all of it for long.

[Jenny in Florida]

And the funny thing is that I think I'm coming at this from a very different direction than you, values-wise.

 

I spent the weekend camping with my son's choir. It's a Christian group, but intentionally inclusive and kind of an outreach to the community. When boys join, they (and their parents) sign an agreement acknowledging that the choir is a Christian organization and promising to abide by those standards. We're not Christian, but are okay with that requirement. In fact, I'm more conservative in a lot of ways than many of my liberal religious cohorts. So, I figured this was a great place for my son.

 

And, in many ways, it has been. However, this past weekend was a tough one for me.

 

For example, we're ethical vegans. So, I knew we would not be able to participate in the Saturday evening meal, to which everyone--even families and family members not camping for the weekend--were invited. What I didn't anticipate was that the meal would be a big barbeque featuring various kinds of "mystery meat" that one of the choir members and his dad had killed. Or that the specifics of exactly how these animals were killed--along with laughter and hearty congratulations to the hunters--would be quite such a big topic of conversation.

 

And I knew there would be a campfire and that many folks would be roasting marshmallows and making s'mores. So, I spent I-don't-even-want-to-tell-you-how-much money special ordering vegan-friendly marshmallows and bringing chocolate and other supplies so that my son could participate. I suspected we'd have to have a brief conversation explaining why we were using our own supplies instead of the communal stuff. What I didn't plan for was just how many times I'd have to answer people asking in tones of something between disgust and awe, "What are THOSE?" Nor did I guess just how many times we'd get to hear variations on the hysterical question, "So, are they made of tofu?" (The answer is no, by the way. They're just made without gelatin and with vegan-friendly sugar. And they are very good.)

 

Nor did I guess just how much political talk there would be, by the boys, themselves as well as their parents. Or how much of it would make me feel uncomfortable and unwelcome.

 

Nor did I prepare myself for the near-constant "jokes" about stabbing whatever beautiful animal dared to come close enough to our campsite to get noticed.

 

Now, please understand, between my two children, I've been involved with this organization for close to five years. I genuinely like many of these people and have found them, mostly, welcoming and kind. In fact, my son and I went on the same camp-out last year. This was the first time I've ever felt that uncomfortable and unhappy to be with them.

 

And it isn't just the camp-out. I feel the same way pretty much everywhere. Remember just a couple of weeks ago when I felt like I couldn't hide from the Super Bowl? Geez, it even came up in my church service that day.

 

Yes, the world feels like a pretty lonely and hopeless place to me, too, an awful lot of the time. You are definitely not alone in that.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Yes, and then I realize that God is bigger than the World system, the Devil and all that goes with it. And I look back in history and see how God took care of Daniel in a strange land without freedom of his religion (remember the lion's den?!). I am trying to immerse myself in God's reality more than the reality of the 6 pm news because that is what is going to get me through tough times if and when they come.

 

This answer may be more serious than what you were looking for.

You may just be PMSing!

[Tree House Academy]

Well...we sort-of did do that. :) We are much happier nestled in our little mountain rural town away from the rest of the busy world. We cut off TV, so I don't really watch the news. I pray for our family, and for our country and I believe that God will be there for us as we go through these struggles. These are hard and uncertain times...but we aren't the first generation to live through them...and we most likely won't be the last.

[Cheryl in NM]

Yes, this is actually our family plan. Buy land someplace somewhat remote, live off the land, wind & solar power and go to town rarely. We'll see if we ever attain it. We've been trying to get there for 10 years! I'm afraid we might be living in the end times, but then I think, "Surely the end times get much worse than this" Then I'm thankful that things aren't worse. As bad as things are, the US is still the best place overall to live, IMHO.

[swellmomma]

I have the thoughts almost on a daily basis of living way out in the middle of nowhere, just me and my kids a group of hermits full self sufficient. I have been having these daily thoughts for around 5 years now, so they are not going away anytime soon, I may as well get the point of planning the how, since nothing is changing.

[happyWImom]

And the funny thing is that I think I'm coming at this from a very different direction than you, values-wise.

 

I spent the weekend camping with my son's choir. It's a Christian group, but intentionally inclusive and kind of an outreach to the community. When boys join, they (and their parents) sign an agreement acknowledging that the choir is a Christian organization and promising to abide by those standards. We're not Christian, but are okay with that requirement. In fact, I'm more conservative in a lot of ways than many of my liberal religious cohorts. So, I figured this was a great place for my son.

 

And, in many ways, it has been. However, this past weekend was a tough one for me.

 

For example, we're ethical vegans. So, I knew we would not be able to participate in the Saturday evening meal, to which everyone--even families and family members not camping for the weekend--were invited. What I didn't anticipate was that the meal would be a big barbeque featuring various kinds of "mystery meat" that one of the choir members and his dad had killed. Or that the specifics of exactly how these animals were killed--along with laughter and hearty congratulations to the hunters--would be quite such a big topic of conversation.

 

And I knew there would be a campfire and that many folks would be roasting marshmallows and making s'mores. So, I spent I-don't-even-want-to-tell-you-how-much money special ordering vegan-friendly marshmallows and bringing chocolate and other supplies so that my son could participate. I suspected we'd have to have a brief conversation explaining why we were using our own supplies instead of the communal stuff. What I didn't plan for was just how many times I'd have to answer people asking in tones of something between disgust and awe, "What are THOSE?" Nor did I guess just how many times we'd get to hear variations on the hysterical question, "So, are they made of tofu?" (The answer is no, by the way. They're just made without gelatin and with vegan-friendly sugar. And they are very good.)

 

Nor did I guess just how much political talk there would be, by the boys, themselves as well as their parents. Or how much of it would make me feel uncomfortable and unwelcome.

 

Nor did I prepare myself for the near-constant "jokes" about stabbing whatever beautiful animal dared to come close enough to our campsite to get noticed.

 

Now, please understand, between my two children, I've been involved with this organization for close to five years. I genuinely like many of these people and have found them, mostly, welcoming and kind. In fact, my son and I went on the same camp-out last year. This was the first time I've ever felt that uncomfortable and unhappy to be with them.

 

And it isn't just the camp-out. I feel the same way pretty much everywhere. Remember just a couple of weeks ago when I felt like I couldn't hide from the Super Bowl? Geez, it even came up in my church service that day.

 

Yes, the world feels like a pretty lonely and hopeless place to me, too, an awful lot of the time. You are definitely not alone in that.

 

Jenny:

I have friends from church & town that I've known for a long time, and it's funny, because after not being around them for a while, when I do see them, I almost feel like I'm from another planet or something, trying to get on their frequency! Isn't that weird? Are we hs moms on another frequency or something? Because I never feel like that, even with new hs moms that I meet.

 

Hmm, something to ponder.

[Perry]

Yes, the world feels like a pretty lonely and hopeless place to me, too, an awful lot of the time. You are definitely not alone in that.

 

Me too. I wish you were my neighbor. :001_smile:

[Audrey]

Or at least moving far into the mountains with my family, living self sustainably and cutting ourselves off from the world????:w00t:

 

I feel like I can't watch the news because I'll be upset or worried (especially the future of my dc), I get all of these emails on how religion is being taken out of everything, the UW system in our state is doing late term abortions, and then I just read the post on the UN Rights of the Child treaty. I just want to be happy!!!

 

I know-that's selfish, I need to not just think about myself and my family (and I don't-really), and we can't sit by and let certain things happen, we need to be involved- but some days, don't you just want to crawl in a hole?

 

Maybe I'm PMSing, I don't know. Sigh.

 

 

I'm already there! It took a lot of hard work, but we're really not worried. We have no debt, not even a mortgage anymore, and we've got land.

 

Every once in a while my dh wonders if we ought to stockpile weapons in case all the Yanks come gunning across the border, but then we just say "nah... pot's legal here, we'll just get 'em all stoned and everybody'll be happy." :D

[Macrina]

Or at least moving far into the mountains with my family, living self sustainably and cutting ourselves off from the world????:w00t:

 

 

We are :) My parents have a small family farm in the hills and we are building on their land and becoming as self sufficient as possible, including heating, dairy cows, raising meat...the works.

 

I will have such a sense of peace when the process is completed. In this fragile state of things, I feel it's in the best interest of our whole family to be on a family type compound.

 

It looks like my sister will be building in the next five years and joining us too.