Herland Sister Resources

Sybil has recently - ok, December of 1995, maybe a long time to you, but a blink of an eye to Sybil - received a series of questions from the smartest woman she knows, and will answer some of them in this and future issues.

Dear St. Sybil,
Whenever I find time and energy to emerge from my self-involved world (not to demean it - it is hard to make a living and deal with everything) and look around, I realize I have two questions for you:

1. What are the questions to ask?
2. What are the answers?

Yours,
Easier Under a Rock

Dear Easy,

Thanks for writing. Here are some questions for you:

• Am I even half as loving, fun-loving, selfless and faithful as your everyday Golden Retriever, Poodle, or common mutt on the street?
• Am I anywhere near as dignified, self-aware and karmicly centered as your run-of-the-mill tabby cat?
• Should I possibly be working more on my novel and less on my computer games skills?
• Am I letting someone live rent-free in my head and dictate my every mood and move - in other words, am I holding a big old grudge against someone? Why don’t I just sip some cyanide and hope that the grudgee will writhe in agony? Or… why don’t I just get over it and let go?
• Do I compost? Recycle? Bi-cycle? Do I support the Southern Poverty Law Center? Am I, in other words, even beginning to live up to my Girl Scout oath to leave the world a better place than I found it? If not, how can I use my talents to improve life for my neighbors in Oklahoma, in New York, in the world?

A question not to ask: “Am I doing enough?” It is impossible to do enough, so don’t even try, or you will end up depressed out of your gourd and stay in bed the rest of a miserable life, watching TV, eating moon pies, and trying to do The Nation puzzle.

Also be sure to avoid all of the unanswerable questions twelve-year-olds love so much: If there is a God, who made God? Heh heh heh. And the corollary, If the world began with the Big Bang, where did the stuff for the Big Bang come from? These are hopeless questions guaranteed to keep you awake all night, possibly for the rest of your life. You may never sleep again. Don’t ask them. Tend to the simple questions, the big ones will take care of themselves.

A question I would like more Americans to ask themselves: Why didn’t I and 51% of the country riot in the streets when the 2000 election was stolen as cleanly and sweetly as any third-world dictator could hope for? And are we going to let it happen again in 2004?

Now, as to finding the answers — my dear, there are no answers; you know that. Only questions.

Love,

Sybil