May I just say that the world seems officially, undeniably and regrettably upside down?

When I was growing up, and even as an adult, I knew that fiction was “made up” and reality was “truth.” Made-for-TV game shows weren’t reality. They were entertainment. Game shows were just a way to play — all based on knowing that the show was no more than a made-up fiction that amused us. They were intentional distractions.

Reality, on the other hand, consisted of work, relationships, discipline, tending to our children and our elders, supporting our communities, trusting the general good will of Congress, being responsible with whatever resources were given to us and so forth. We shared.

This view has mostly toppled over, and what was once a frivolous entertainment is now reality and reality is a mere distraction. The current occupant of the White House throws out horrendous distractions that we, unfortunately devour like starving cats. American bombers are sent to do what Israeli bombers couldn’t do. It’s a made-for-TV opening to a made-for-TV war. Congress doesn’t matter, because it doesn’t want to matter. And a heat wave garners more televised attention than the edge of nuclear war, the insanity de jour, today’s distraction.

Given the daily dose of distractions, who keeps us from noticing the destruction of decades of promises (USAID) and years of life-saving medical research, among other features of civility? It’s as if we should be looking right but we’re only looking left. By looking the wrong way, we’re spared seeing the harshest of realities.

Maybe it’s that the reality is still the reality but it’s too frightening to accept; we prefer believing that, somehow, against the odds, this is all going to work out.

Or maybe it’s that each day’s violations of all things we’ve held sacred and true about America have lost their ability to provide shock and awe. Innocents are snatched from sidewalks by armed and masked thugs. Children go to school fearing they’ll never see their parents again. Trump amplifies his lying about “criminals” who don’t exist while those who carry out his brutal campaigns in Nazi-like raids have become the new normal. We see it daily in our Los Angeles neighborhoods. It’s an upside down world where justice is trampled and injustice, especially for those whose skin is Black or brown, is commonplace.

To the extent that there’s some truth in here, and to the extent that I can find that truth when my world has been turned upside down, I tried to offer some sense of sanity in my recently published book, Uneasy Silence.

In art that reveals my sense of today’s realities, and words that convey the worry that we aren’t paying attention to the realities of starving children (for example) or growing economic injustices, I was allowed to say what I believe.

In an upside-down world it may be difficult to know what to believe, or what to say. But this is certain: Those who have endured great loss will grieve, and I’m called to offer comfort. Those who are hungry need to be fed. Children being abused need to be rescued. Such things are unchanged by a White House that is the source of relentless chaos and cruelty. What I need to do, at a minimum, is acknowledge the enduring realities and do what I can to prove I am not indifferent. Or distracted.

As I confessed in Uneasy Silence, “Not caring enough to speak out is my version of indifference. My conscience may be screaming at me but I stay quiet. I spend worry-filled days and sleepless nights, knowing that injustice and suffering are calling my name.” My conscience is not a distraction; it’s a ringing fire alarm or, just as often, a soft whisper of danger. I need to listen, and I need to respond.

What matters is still the truth. Let’s see if I can hang onto that without being distracted.