Society is a false overlay over the Self with a capital “S.” Those who read my essays recognize this! Anyone trying to awaken from society’s chokehold on the spirit reads this loud and clear.

Society is governed politically by those who lie to the masses for a living. There is no polite way to put it. The two-party system we live under guarantees lies for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Oh, they spice them up with seemingly tasty promises that never come true. That’s their bag; it’s what they do.

The “Us’s and the “Them’s” argue endlessly over how to bilk the public. Nothing ever is simple with politicians and yet they themselves are (insert giggle.)

We are in danger of getting taken over by a party with no scruples. But I digress…. I was talking about this false overlay that we call ego. Remember when your mother scolded you for trying to keep a toy for yourself? I do. All it did was teach you to act nice on the outside while feeling not-so-nice on the inside.

Since I am an introvert, I have never enjoyed socializing with people falsely. And that’s what socializing is. It’s never letting them see you sweat. It’s having to be nice to those who are not nice inside. It’s a myriad of things that tamp down the spirit. And the spirit is who we truly are.

When I would visit Vernon Howard’s school, the veneer couldn’t stay in place. That was because the students were in overload at all times; they had no time for niceties.

He loved it when our facades cracked; the sooner the better as far as he was concerned. Now we could face our endless sorrow over having nothing real about ourselves except the pain of play-acting!

So what is Vicki doing these days? She is banging out essays like this one. She spends her days, not socially, but in solitude.

Solitude is breathing room for human beings broken and tamed by a superficial society.

Yee haw!

Vicki Woodyard