I Woke Up Today

Barbara H. Peterson

Farm Wars

Did you ever get the feeling that you were going to wake up at any moment and life as you know it would no longer exist? That what you have been living is a lie and that the “truth” as you have perceived it isn’t really the truth at all?

What if you came to the stark realization that your “reality” has been and is an illusion consisting of a manufactured web of lies and deceit created to keep you in line and working for a system that has been designed to enslave you just so others can live like kings off the sweat of your brow?

And what if, one day, you decide that you are disgusted by that system and demand the truth?

The Long Slumber

I have lived in this system for many years. I embraced it. Thought that it was the best system on earth. That is what I was taught. And then the reality of what I was living became so ugly that I could not accept it, so I created a space to live in that made it bearable. And I carried on.

When the truth peaked through occasionally, I could not accept it. It frightened me. Made me angry. So I lashed out at those who exposed this truth. It could not be real, and I suppressed it until it could be suppressed no longer and I found myself face to face with it.

And it stared back at me with cold, hard eyes.

Those around me stepped out of my path, reluctant to get in the way as I unwittingly stumbled towards it, all the while subtly guiding me back towards the illusion. It’s easier, they said. Just believe the lies. You will be happier. But something was gnawing away at me. There must be more to this puzzle than I knew. So I kept questioning. Kept trying to uncover the reality. To escape from what I was beginning to realize was a deep, dark pit disguised as a comforting refuge.

The Awakening

And then it hit me. I wasn’t free. Not really. Not like I had been told.

The reality is, I am enslaved. Tied to a world that requires giving my all just to stay above water and help foster the illusion of freedom to lure others in as well.

But my mind would not accept this realization in the beginning. Now I know it for a fact. And it is deplorable. The feeling of entrapment in a system designed for rodents. Rats in a trap created for the amusement of a few. Expendable toys in a game none of us can win.

So I keep searching for a way out of the maze, with each door leading back to the center. Each facilitator ushering me back to the comfortable game. The more I question my plight the more intense the effort becomes to convince me that the truth is an illusion.

But the truth cannot be forever suppressed. And when it appears for a brief instant, it then becomes a daunting task of accepting the revelations a little at a time because the enormity of it might just be too much to handle if uncovered all at once.

Baby steps. One bite at a time. But once the center is reached, will the illusion be preferred? Will the whole truth about all of the lies be so ugly that I recoil in total revulsion and grab onto any fantasy that I can to avoid it at all costs? That is the chance I must take, because living a lie is not acceptable. Not by any means.

So, the question must be asked…

Can you handle the truth?

Well, maybe I can’t, Jack. But I need it. Why? Because the exposed lies sicken me.

There are those whose livelihood depends on us saying no to this question and slipping back into the comfortable illusion.

They depend on our ignorance. They thrive on it. And they count on us pulling into our shells, afraid of stepping out of bounds. They count on complacency and a willingness to lie to oneself and delude others. They create entertainment to distract and appease, luring us into going easily into that good night without a struggle.

Yes, there will always be those who are content within the maze. Happily feeding on table scraps until those scraps stop falling and they are forced to eat their own children. And still, they cannot and will not see that what they do is controlled.

But will their fate be any better than those who question the status quo? Who choose to see beyond the next round of bread and circuses meted out to keep us in line? Is it better to be a willing participant in our own destruction, or to take that chance and go for the brass ring of truth?

I say, take the chance. Because when all is said and done, the truth will be the only thing left standing no matter how many lies are wrapped around it to disguise its true nature.

And when all the lies are exposed and the truth stands tall, all that we can do is hope that it will recognize each of us as a friend.

©2016 Barbara H. Peterson