What scares you? -– Rock The Wrinkle

It’s Halloween. Ghosts. Goblins. And lots and lots of fun-size candy sitting on your counter just daring you to stick to your diet.

Great for kids, and aficionados of the classic horror films. Fun for adults who like to decorate their homes into eerie places that give trick-or-treaters a thrill.

But you know what’s really scary?

What goes on every day. Fears of gun violence no matter where you go on a sunny Saturday. Health insurance premiums skyrocketing. Bigotry, white supremacy and incessant name-calling grabbing center stage. Crazy people in power encouraging lies, revenge and insults to ignite frightening results.

And what seems to be a general ho-hum reaction to most of it—or what’s even worse, a weariness that results in inertia.

Why aren’t more people upset that the planet is suffering from our abuse? That children are taken from their mothers and walls are built to keep out people while the privileged just get more? That bullying seems to ongoing with no end in sight?

It’s terrifying.

Maybe some are afraid to admit they are afraid.

Maybe some figure that’s just the way it is.

Maybe some are so used to it all they figure someone else will fix it.

Maybe some think they can’t do anything.

But we can.

Even if you never leave your home, you can do a lot. You can make your voice heard. You can decry meanness. You can shine the flashlight on off-color jokes and inappropriate behavior in mixed company. You can not laugh when someone you’ve known for years tells a repugnant joke.

You can send out positive thoughts and not buy in to the garbage.

So much negative energy comes in through our televisions, computers, phones and more. It’s enough to make you put a piece of foil on your head and hide under a rug.

But don’t.

Be true to your heart. To the spirit of good, of light, of redemption. Get out your hippie t-shirt from the 60s and wear it while you do housework. Be the ripple in the pond that goes out to the universe.

We boomers have lived through a lot of war, anger, bad politics and more. We know how to change minds. How to be heard. And while we may not be able to participate in a 3-day sit in (we’d never be able to get up), we can do our part to not let so much junk invade our lives. And not let the uncivilized talk go unchecked.

Here’s to some positive energy…and to turning down the volume on what others think we want to hear.