Ira's Interdimensional Push On Rejecting the False Dichotomy #12

Dear Maccabee, These last two weeks included not the shortest day of the year but actually the earliest sunset of the year, which is generally around December 9th/10th despite the solstice not coming until the 21st/22nd. If you take a picture of the sun at the same time everyday it creates a shape called an analemma - which is a fancy astronomical way of saying figure-eight. The best explanation that I've found for this phenomenon comes from [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/18ggkyq/why_is_the_earliest_sunset_in_the_northern/) and makes use of a bomb diagram that shows how the sun shifts throughout the sky both <u>up-down</u> *and* <u>left-right</u> throughout the year and as a result the lowest and highest points (the earliest/latest suns ets) are slightly offset from the widest points (the solstices). Just as all of our lives can shift above, below, in front, and behind our goals, they will ultimately bounce around the equilibrium of our intentions, attitude, choices, and surroundings. Here’s the equilibrium that I’ve been bouncing around these last couple-two: 1. Mo-Town Triple Snort: Again - no [pictures](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1y4-se68PgfRv59qy0sXGGP96tvOBtKvc?usp=sharing) other than the pictures of Morris as you can imagine. The chum is on his way with a couple of legendary sleepless nights which Talja and I call jumps, rapid successive inhales which we call triple snorts, and barfs for which we are generally honest about what they are. The latest revelation around taking care of this young fellow, other than how he looks like me in 10 years and already has more back hair than I ever will, is this duality between inheriting him a world of hedonism or inspired change that never seems to come. Let me explain - it’s been common for me to see life as some wide open mission where we might the hell as well enjoy ourselves to the fullest or as a large scale mission to fix the mess and that we are not worthy of enjoying ourselves while the mess remains. This leaves, for the most part, a growing divide where a bunch of people don’t care about climate change, democracy, inequality, etc… and just want to ball out while a bunch of others make themselves so miserable with all the bad news that life becomes less and less bearable. There are a few undecideds in the middle who seem to reject both sides but also see some merits either way; these people don’t necessarily have working alternatives of their own though and all of this for me is insufficient to leave to Morris. 2. Wrapping work for the term: This is the last week of school for the term before we’re off for two weeks (thank goodness!!) and I’ve been bouncing back and forth between this idea that whatever my job is I should do to the best of my ability and the feeling that my bosses are scammers and I have a capitalist duty to give them the least possible value without getting fired. The kids always make whatever teaching hell I find myself in worthwhile. In this case it’s unlivable wages and I never let myself take it out on the students but as the year goes on I get more and more loose with the adult deadlines and logistics, as per usual really. It’s another dichotomy where neither side seems right, especially when everyone around me seems to be playing by different rules. 3. Chanukah: Tonight is the first night of Chanukah and I spent it with the Utrecht Chabad. They actually got a pretty rousing turnout but really blew the chunks in my opinion when they spent most of the time parading local and national politicians and bigwigs in front of us to stand against antisemitism instead of observing the damn holiday itself. Only hours after the massacre in Bondi, part of it felt necessary and part if just seemed like posturing and virtue signaling while losing sight of what being Jewish means anymore. It all felt like another example on a long list of people, places, and things that are becoming extreme in their rhetoric and way of operating and it all makes me want to find something new altogether. My focus now is to reject the false dichotomies all around me as I find both sides inadequate in almost all cases. A small tip of my hat to the middle ground that tries to balance the best of both sides but it’s a rare breed nowadays and still leaves me with something to be desired. For now I’ll just hold tight to the dichotomy I have which already serves me - to always listen for something better while being grateful for what I have that already works. Sh’ma, Ira