I’m a little bothered. You know how I’ve always wanted to be a rich and famous author, like Rowling and Seuss? Well, I’m kind of afraid of doing that now, and I’ll tell you why. I’m afraid someone is going to take me too seriously.
Yeah, that’s right: too seriously. You know, like that Hubbard guy, the one that wrote a sci-fi story that got turned into a religion? You know my story is about the power of faith in making miracles and such; well, what’s going to happen if someone takes it too seriously? I mean, I don’t want to be the basis of a whole new religion! For one thing, I can’t take the responsibility! I can’t even weed the flower beds around my house, for crying out loud! How am I supposed to be idolized by millions of dedicated acolytes? That’s the kind of pressure I could do without.
I know what you’re thinking. Aren’t people smarter than that? Well, yes. Most people aren’t so easily taken in by glitz and glamor, but there are way too many gullible people out there who might be inadvertantly taken in by my smooth stylings and catchy prose, and I don’t want to be responsible for them. After all, they elected an adulterer and known liar to office just because he told them he was the only one that could help them out of their problems, even though he was, himself, a part of those same problems. Yes, I’m talking about the same people that believed horrible lies about an entire political party, including a vicious story about a non-existant child trafficing ring in an equally non-existant basement of a pizzeria, just because it fit into the biased narrative they had been hand-fed for decades by a network founded just to spread such lies. Sound far-fetched? Well, just remember, these same people would rather have elected a known and convicted child predator than someone from the rival party because of those lies; there are too many people that consistantly vote against their best interests in the name of political loyalty.
And, no, it’s not all about politics, though everything seems to be lately. Some people just want to believe whatever they want to despite the evidence in front of their eyes. It’s like that short story of the man who sat on his porch at sunset every day, staring at this huge barn in front of him. When someone finally asked him why he was staring at the barn, he asked, “What barn?” And, the barn disappeared, as if it was never there. It feels like some people are like that with this pandemic we now face, believing they can wish it away through faith alone. It doesn’t matter if loved ones die or they get sick themselves. They believe what they want to believe despite what the scientists tell them. You think I want my novel to fuel a similar mania?
You still think I’m being silly? Look at the people that think the election was rigged and that the President isn’t the President. They actually think the last moron is still in charge, even though he lost in a landslide. It’s funny how he put certain people in charge and told everyone it was going to be a secure election, but that the only way he was going to lose was if it was rigged. Which was it, anyway: rigged or secure? You think that anyone who followed that kind of two-faced “logic” wouldn’t read all sorts of things in my brilliant narrative?
Yeah, I have a lot of reservations about publishing my novel. If those things could happen in real life, just imagine what could happen next? Why, before you know it, an alleged sex trafficing legislator, who should be removed from office let alone every committee he’s on, will be allowed to remain on the committee overseeing the very department that is investigating him! Or a man that instigated an insurrectionist riot at the Capitol of this Democracy will remain at large without suffering the consequences of his action! Or, the only one in his party gutsy enough to stand up to him would get her position in leadership threatened just because she hurt his feelings!
Okay! Okay, I know. That last stuff was too crazy to be even remotely possible. Maybe I am just being too weird about things. Maybe I’m just under some strain from the writing process, or something. I don’t know. I guess all I can do is plug away at it and hope for the best. Hey, anyway, thanks for listening, Larry! You’re a good friend! Catch you later!
Tales of a Tired Daddy 