Let's Conscify (cónch•i•fy) Biden's Age Then Shut the Fuck Up About It
Issue 114
If this is your first read, welcome to The Conscious Politics Op-Ed (formerly The Conscious Politics Sunday Newsletter), currently being published whenever possible.
If you have been around for a while, please read “Dear Reader” after the piece.
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We all know what it’s like to be on the receiving end of judgment. You love the arts but your parents will only pay for college if you study engineering. Somebody implies that you feel a certain way when you absolutely do not feel that way. You’re in the midst of processing heavy grief and your confidant steamrolls over yours with non-stop talk about hers. Some yahoo in the hardware store whispers too loudly to his co-worker that you’re too old to manage the project you’re cooking up.
The experience of being the object of this particular flavor of judgment is, I dare say, largely universal: we feel unseen, unheard, and invisible because judgments separate us; judgments supplant compassion. And what about when it is we who are the ones spewing the judgment in the form of our unsolicited thoughts, opinions, attitudes, and feelings? What about when it is we who are the ones spewing judgment about “President Biden’s age?” Of course, we conscious politics practitioners would never be a part of that because we know that judgment is a no-no, we know that we have no idea, at all, what it’s like to be him in his body living his life and we know, in the end, it’s none of our business anyway until and unless he solicits our opinions.
So for anyone who is railing or fretting or “has concerns” about the president’s age, that’s simply not enough right now, not today. What’s required is actually knowing what you are believing about his age. He can’t do the job. He won’t live out his term. He’ll be taken advantage of by foreign leaders. I’m guessing at some potential beliefs because I don’t have them myself. But I do know that beliefs matter, that conscious practice means choosing what to believe, and that it is always incumbent upon conscious politics practitioners to be clear about what we believe about issues so we can elevate and bring gravitas to our political conversations and debates.
Not only do we choose what to believe about anything at any time, we also choose to trust — or not to trust — all day, every day. Choices abound. We choose to trust or not trust our kids’ teachers. We choose to trust or not trust the driver of the other car. We choose to trust or not trust the organic stickers on our produce. Personally, I trust this president’s ability to do his job. I trust his cabinet. I trust his advisers. We have been at this for, what, 46 presidencies and counting? I trust the processes in place for what happens if and when a president — any president, but definitely this one — can’t do his/her/their job.
Support or don’t support the president’s reelection, that’s your business. But if vague references to his age are the reasons why you would withhold your support, conscious politics asks you to reconsider.
If Biden’s age is an issue for you, please also remember that the law of attraction is always on which is why intentions — thinking and acting and feeling in terms of what we want — matter. In other words, if having a president who is in his 80’s is not your cup of tea, you can be about the business, starting right now — right now — of articulating the kind of president you’d like to see the next time around. You’ll have four years, which is about a hundred in politics years, to clearly articulate and beat the drum of the characteristics of that person in 2028 when the field will be double-wide open. Investing our precious time and energy in what we want is, simply, best practice.
Once any of us have a well-articulated intention, we listen to inspiration/gut/intuition to gauge our alignment with it, what conscious practice is all about. Fear, anxiety, hopelessness and the like are evidence of being out of alignment. Enthusiasm, excitement, and feeling energized are evidence of being in alignment. Come to this month’s Conscious Politics Free Monthly Training to go deeper on this — it’s one of the reasons it exists.
Meanwhile, people, his age just is. It just is. When a thing we don’t like exists, we don’t go on and on about it. If we dislike rain, we don’t stare out the window during a nine-hour storm and incessantly repeat to ourselves and anyone who might be listening that it’s raining. It’s raining. It’s raining. It’s raining. It’s raining. It’s raining. It’s raining. Everybody knows so, please, shut the fuck up about it. Please stop wasting so much of your own precious time and energy. Please stop polluting the ethers with such drivel because everything is energy, attracting, and we are all connected. Without a doubt and most importantly, you have something far more valuable to contribute. To go on and on about something unwanted like Biden’s age, which simply is and will never be otherwise, sure feels to me like a lot of resistance to what is. And that’s a blatant violation of what it means to be present wherein we accept things as they are, no resistance, and go from there.
More personally, we are here for a reason so it’s not an accident that you’re living right now and reading these words. It’s not an accident that you’re interested in/concerned about politics. So if you’re angsty, if you can’t seem to find your way out of fear and worry and dread and whatever it all might be for you, perhaps it’s time for some personal inquiry. Who might you have to be right now or what muscle might you have to grow or develop in order to feel better than you do (assuming you don’t want to remain in fear and worry and the like)? It could be something as simple as, well, I just have to be more present. Or less judgmental. I don’t know what it is/will be for you, but I do know it’s always something simple like that. I also know that when you find it — a project is what I call it — you can then be about the business of cultivating that instead of cultivating more and more worry.
Support or don’t support the president’s reelection, that’s your business. But if vague references to his age are the reasons why you would withhold your support, conscious politics asks you to reconsider.
Dear Reader:
When it comes to Conscious Politics (CP), I want a lot. I want to publish a piece here every week, like I used to. I want to reach out to Young America and would-be conscious politics practitioners everywhere and grow our audience. I want to find an established editorial home for CP. I want to take time to write — and sell — a book about conscious politics. I want to attend more conferences, hire some administrative help, produce and publish more content. And get paid. There! I said it; it’s out there. I want to get paid.
We’ve come a long way since I launched CP here on Substack in August, 2020. There is an archive now of more than 110 pieces that can be readily accessed by anyone, anytime, who wants to understand what CP is all about. There is an in-depth survey of readers reporting raves. There is a website! The Conscious Politics Free Monthly Training (CPFMT) exists, welcoming all comers to talk about myriad subjects from a variety of perspectives and it’s gaining steam. There is volunteer commitment (by someone other than me) to do outreach to Young America throughout 2024 and I want to support that person in every way possible.
To date, my personal investment in CP has been more than 330 days of work just writing this newsletter with $0 compensation. I also built, maintain, and have paid for the CP website every month for a couple of years. I promote, facilitate, and pay for The Conscious Politics Free Monthly Training. I funded traveling to and attending a politics conference. I have done virtually all of it backwards, in heels while not having a home and without any real income. These are just facts, not a lament, not at all. But they might explain some of why CP isn’t farther along than it is, out there in the world. Besides, artists and entrepreneurs (that’s me) “make sacrifices” for their work all day, every day. It’s archetypal and my choices are mine. Patrons of the arts and investors in business are also archetypal. and, yes, I’m ready to experience some of that. :)
I haven’t activated paid monthly subscriptions here on Substack because I don’t have nearly enough readers to make it worthwhile — yet. As a reader of other newsletters, however, I am constantly inundated with “support this work” solicitations made by well-established writers with administrative help, even teams, and massive audiences.
So until that mechanism is activated and paid subscribers are a thing for CP, I am ready, willing, and able to receive a one-off contribution, of any amount, to this work.
That’s the ask.
It’s on our website.
I’m definitely not asking you to pay me a salary; that’s not your job. Any result of this solicitation will not change my life, very few will read these words. But what a contribution today will do is add “moral support” energy to the project writ large and a little of that goes a very long way. It could also perhaps add a bit of fuel to one or more of the items listed above.
Some Particulars:
Your contribution will not be tax deductible. It will go directly to my bank account — minus standard processing fees — and will be reported by me as income.
If you think you’ll want to do this more than once, thank you! Keep THIS LINK and drop in any time.
If you’d like to make a more regular or a different kind of contribution, please contact me directly and we’ll make it work.
If you’d like to make a contribution but just can’t today, trust me, I understand completely. One day you will…and much, much more. Today, please, take care of you and yours — and continue to enjoy being part of the CP community. Your readership is my highest value, cash money is just icing on the cake.
Thank you quite a lot for your time and consideration.
P E A C E ,
Steven
Excellent! 💙🇺🇸