Things look a little bleak

I have not been posting for a while and this is not because I do not have time to write. I have not been in the best of spirits, and this is quite an understatement. There a number of reasons for it. The weather is not uplifting to say the least. This has had impact on my mood and my well-being. Generally speaking, I do not feel well.

The political situation in the country is very depressing and there is no hope for a change. Polish government is doing its best to upset the EU and force Brussels to impose penalties on Poland. This most likely will eventually lead to Poland either being expelled or leaving the Union on its own accord claiming that it does not intend to be ruled by foreign powers. Political events are moving like a tsunami changing the old democratic order dramatically. As of yesterday, there is no independent jurisdiction. Today, we all woke up in a new reality. Sad, very sad. I can imagine the consequences of the current event and it looks very bleak to me. The people protests are massive and very moving, but in my opinion futile.

The Chain of Light protests outside the Courthouse in Warsaw. The light represents respect and sadness for outgoing democratic rules and hope for the future

                          

This is rather marginal and inconsequential, but few days ago the visit of Mr Trump in Poland was another reason to feel depressed. The visit was considered by some a great success, everything worked very well and the presidents of both countries were happy with the outcome. Mr. Trump laid superlatives towards Poland and Polish history so thick that it was too superficial even for American standards. Of course, he did not mean any of what he was saying and most likely even did not understand it. The sad thing about it is, that Polish crowds were lapping it up, cheering enthusiastically thinking that Poland and its history are eventually appreciated and understood. As the country is falling down some see it as uplifting future. I want to be the one who is wrong. How much I would like to be the one to be in the wrong!

While I have no influence on weather and politics and not that much on my health situation, I have all the control over that I read. And here, I made a wrong choice some ten days ago. For an while, if not for always, I read books to find answers to the questions: What is it all about? How to live well?  The most uplifting books I have found so far are books based stoic philosophy. This time I chose The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. Bad choice. Not that the book is bad, far from it, but it is so dark in its mood and conclusions that it will take some effort to shake all the negativity off.

                                                                 

I do not intend to write about the content of the book this time, but I would like to write about the reason why I decided to read it. It was a fashionable book some years ago, but it somehow did not appeal to me then. Medieval times did not turn me on, they are still not my favourite times in history. I see too many frightening similarities between those times and some aspects of the current days.  As I perhaps mentioned earlier, books in Poland are published with much more care than their equivalents in other countries. I found this beautiful book in one of the many books stores in Gdansk and I could not resist buying it. The next step was to read it. The first 100 “boring” pages were intended by the author to check out the reader and his intention to go beyond the crime story that the book is known for. I passed the test and got sucked into the gloom and doom, cruelty, fanaticism, falseness of religious intentions and all that negative stuff. Mea Culpa! and my depression.

There is a Polish radio program where they always ask participants two questions: what is good and what is bad in the current situation. I have answered the second question comprehensively, the first one is a bit trickier today, but I have an answer! The conversion rate from Aussie dollars to Polish zloty improved in my favour!