We watched The Man Who Invented Christmas last night. Somehow, its existence has eluded me for the past six years. It's a wonderful movie, well done.

I was reading something about a "climate shadow" being a better metaphor for considering one's individual impact on climate change instead of "carbon footprint." The idea is that there are other dimensions to the emergency besides merely the consumption of energy from fossil fuels that contribute to its size. Your actions in those other dimensions contribute to the size of the shadow you cast. And the shadows grow long now indeed.

I've never read A Christmas Carol, I suppose I ought to do that soon. I know "shadows" figure in it somehow, as part of the warning to Ebenezer.

Cognitive dissonance is a consequence of two mutually exclusive or contradictory ideas as a fundamental part of one's foundational view of the world, one's core beliefs. Compartmentalization is one of the ways we try reduce the burden of cognitive dissonance. We view those contradictory beliefs in separate contexts, so the contradiction doesn't intrude in our day-to-day existence, creating discomfort or internal conflict.

Distraction is another method of alleviating it. We have become masters of that, aided by those who would have us distracted to do what they must do out of sight. In the shadows.

Watching another depiction of the redemption of Ebenezer Scrooge is an invitation to experiencing acute cognitive dissonance. Best done at night, before going to sleep. Sleep, blessed sleep.

I do a little better these days. For much of my adult life, I hadn't given very much to charity. For a while, shortly after I went back to work as a civilian, I made an effort to never pass a Salvation Army kettle without putting something in it. I haven't done that in quite some time.

Mitzi and I were talking about it the other day. I'd gotten a thank you card from 1000 Friends of Florida. I'd given them $500 on Giving Tuesday. And the day before, WJCT had called to see if I meant for my monthly sustainer pledge to be $125 a month, or just $100. (My previous pledge was $25 a month. It was meant to be $100. Nice of them to call. I love WJCT.)

Mitzi was telling me she was proud of me for my support of non-profits. I also give to the St Johns Riverkeeper, the Matanzas Riverkeeper, the North Florida Land Trust, the Guana Tolomato Matanzas Estuarine Research Reserve, the Jacksonville Arboretum, and the Tidewater Wooden Boat School. There may be a few others. I'll need to pull all that stuff together for taxes, though I still don't think we'll be able to itemize this year.

I told Mitzi it was her example that made me start giving to non-profits. She's always given a lot of money to non-profits. She's a very kind and generous woman, which is just one of the many reasons why I love her.

For all of my Navy career, there were two charitable "campaigns" every year that we were expected to support. Combined Federal Campaign, which was really the United Way, and Navy Relief. I know the intentions were good and honorable, but it always felt like someone was putting the arm on you. Literally.

As a result, I'd been disinclined to give unless someone specifically asked me.

But you'll notice that most of my giving relates to the environment, not so much to poverty.

I'm still buying old cameras, books, other luxuries. Money that ostensibly could be put to better use giving to those who don't have enough. So cognitive dissonance still sometimes combines with my tinnitus to make my interior experience a little less comfortable.

Does a blog post diminish the shadow I cast on my brothers and sisters and all the children that come after me? Is it a light in the darkness? Or just a self-serving form of virtue-signaling? Unsure. Perhaps not my call.

I do know that it was the light of Mitzi's example that made me think more about giving, and then do so.

It's intended to be a light, but who knows?

We can all do more.

Merry Christmas.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 06:03 Monday, 25 December 2023