“In my country there is no such thing as a cold greeting.”

(René Char, paraphrased from memory.)

I wish he had chosen a cap without a Masonic symbol on it but never mind for now, let’s assume he is “for real.”

What he’s talking about is painful and important. Yet I puzzle over where all these video figures come from. How they always express exactly what we are thinking, and then “go viral.”

People are altered, and yes I know the book and I know how they did it…but this post is about what we can do about it.

Clip here.

My question is whether soul, public manners, eye contact, and even the concept of getting together and socializing, even just to talk, could make a comeback.

One thing that “makes no sense:”

Spain is heavily vaccinated and not having this problem from what I can see.

Public greetings remain enthusiastic, manners are intact, traditions, gatherings—why did their version of the shots not knock out their souls?

One thing of so many I register and marvel at:

No person enters or exist any shop or store in Spain (that I have witnessed) without a complete exchange of greetings tailored to the time of day as well as good wishes. It’s not about “friendly—” but it is a form of form. A pattern of social fabric that has meaning and value and is upheld. No silent glum slinking in or out of a store without acknowledging the shopkeeper with: Etc contact, verbal exchange of greeting, and an implicit vow to say goodbye once you have said hello.

After Covid I make mental notes of these things for my collection. I appreciate them so much more than I would have in, say, 2017.

What is different in the US that caused this Zombie apocalypse effect we have all observed.

Did the Zombie effect happy in…Ireland? In Hungary? In Morocco?

Feel free to report levels of ‘zombie effect’ from wherever you are. OR its opposite.

I relentlessly push old fashioned ways of communicating to counter this, even at the risk of seemingly pollyanna, frivolous, and maybe annoying.

Why?

I’m very afraid of the potential for a collapse of the human frequency, and believe we are duty bound to fight it. It’s as important as “de-toxing.”

“Be Friendly.”

—Pete Townshend, “A Friend Is A Friend.”

Our voices, alone, our tonality, our self-governed levels of enthusiasm, all make a huge difference now.

Speaking of sound, this is what it sounded like outside my window this morning. The distinctive sorrowful brass instruments, and drums, winding through the streets on a freezing cold bright sunny morning. Imagine that.

Is this not a form of protection against the necrotic spirit of “Covid-19?”

Some have argued that these processions are too tied in with an old Catholicism, which needs to be rendered more egalitarian etc. but 4 years after the Covid assault, I just cherish every single public sound and expression that is not them. (Not “public health.” Not “Covid” or next fake pandemic propaganda.)

How were different countries and cultures left, after the masks came off, after the assault shifted? I wonder about this a lot.

I’m interested in stories of how people remained as they always were.

Un-hackable humans. “Team human.”

Human.