CALMLY RANDOM

Chances are very good that at some point in your life, you’ve been duped. Swindled. Scammed. Conned. People get hit hard, for example, the Bernie Madoff rip off that impacted Jewish philanthropy like a tsunami. Or cold fusion. Trickle down economics. Energy can’t come from nothing. We all know that money never trickles down. And if it sounds too good to be true… But people want to believe. We cling to fantasies of our own creation.

Science requires evidence and proof. One needs to replicate a result over and over to establish a working hypothesis. Not so with human relationships. Sometimes in an instant a bond is formed that appears real. People feel a connection. They trust their intuition. They find the things they think they have in common. Anyone can find synchronicity; after all, we are human and more alike than different. But we want to believe that our trust is warranted. We remain blind to flaws, to inconsistencies, to half-truths, sometimes even to outright lies.

Like the song, I’ve experienced my share of hearing what I want to hear and disregarding the rest. I’ve trusted for no good reason. I’ve most definitely played the fool. Bad things have happened even to good people like me. Good people like me can lead and be led astray.

Is there an alternative to sightless trust? How do I keep from exposing my vulnerability? I could be closed and unfeeling. Maybe I can. I could try. I can stop caring. I could assume the worst of everyone, so that when someone attempts to mess me over, I won’t be surprised. I’m three quarters of the way to mistrust by default already. Not all so naïve anymore. Closing down. Shutting up. Regaining control. My cool.