Rose-Colored Glasses

As soon as the words

“Why can’t it be like it used to?”

Escape your lips or mind,

Shut that crap down fast.

That’s not nostalgia.

That’s willing blindness

To all the crap that was going on

When we were oblivious.

It is the most dangerous feeling

In the world.

Why?

Because it is patently false.

Because we think we’re right

When we’re completely wrong.

Why?

We’ve been conditioned to not examine our feelings.

Ooh! Surge of adrenaline!

And away we go,

The steeplechase of facts versus hormones,

And yet we cling to our fee-fees

(With the encouragement of rom-coms and adventure movies)

And ignore the evidence

Of our own eyes and ears.

Because of course, chemical squirts

Are more reliable than proverbs, right?

Because thousands of years of experience

Can’t equate to the fleeting emotions we feel right now.

So – what are you really missing?

You look back,

To a time when you were younger,

And therefore didn’t know much.

And you want to go back to that ignorance?

You were a child.

A. Child.

So you’re just missing the feeling of

Someone taking care of you,

Or not knowing how the world works,

Or being carefree from bills and kids and spouse

Where anything felt possible.

Now you’re locked in-

Job, routine, mortgage, chores.

Rising prices, budget blown.

You missed the abuse the poor were facing

Every day, every single day,

And wars were things that happened over there

So you didn’t have to care.

Or worse, you were being abused

Instead of sheltered by those who should have loved you,

And decided the same treatment

Is good enough for the kids.

Because you turned out okay, right?

Oh, you don’t talk to the old man

Because he’s a horrible person?

Hunh. Imagine that.

And you’ll be the most shocked

When your kids vanish at the stroke of eighteen.

Better to drink yourself to a time

When your worst crime

Was an “F” on your science homework

Or not making your bed.

You could go to school

And get two hot meals a day

And whine that you can’t wait

Till you move out

So you can’t be told what to do.

Yeah, tell that to your boss,

But you’re too busy taking it out on your spouse.

Take off the glasses,

Rose doesn’t suit your complexion.

Dissect those emotions,

Have the courage to counter

Your longing for no responsibility

With slogans, or morals, or even memes.

Stop the raging.

Stop the laziness.

Read the stories of the anguished.

Ask yourself why you got this way,

Where ignoring the suffering you caused is okay.

Laziness isn’t a deadly sin for no reason.

Do some blaming – of yourself.

You let yourself get this way.

Then have the courage

To pick up the phone

And instead of doomscrolling,

Hit that call button

You don’t want to touch

And have the courage to say

“Look, I’m sorry.”

And mean it.

It’s a start.