What Did I Learn From Watergate?

Updated: Today, August 28, 2017, it finally came to me -- what I learned most from Watergate!

Watergate showed me "what not to do" and how not to be.

Here is how it came to me.

It was a troubling time for me; a time when I believed I had no values or role models to rely upon 

(Actually I was wrong on this account. But I didn't realize it until years later when I came to see the wonderful gifts my father and stepmother had bestowed on me in their very person hood.)

But at the time, I was lost and acting out my inner turmoil in many ways, yet still doing well in a few, especially as a young businesswoman.

Watergate showed me what Darkness looks and acts like! 

From my "seeing" that and having it, as a baseline, I began, what was to become my lifelong quest for the the Light; how to see it and how to live it.

Almost everything I share with you, through my blogs, radio shows, articles and books, comes of this one major lesson. 

It is my dearest wish that you will use what I offer.  And use it well!

Thank you, Anastasia 

Watergate showed me what Darkness looks and acts like! 

I’ve been trying to articulate what I learned from Watergate as far back as when I first introduced my Anastasia The Storyteller Radio Show in 2013. (You can hear that show at this link.) 

Back when I began that show my every intent was to create a platform for myself from which I could begin to tell the many stories and lessons I had learned from my thirteen years in Washington and my connections to the fast track world I lived in there. 

I began that series, first with sharing my belief,  in The Art Of Transcendent Living, that we can all rise above the political trappings that seek to ensnare us as is presently going on. 

In my second show I shared the "Prophecy" that occurred the day before Nixon resigned and has guided my life ever since. 

At the time a wonderful group of my friends actively supported this endeavor of mine. As a result some of them, especially my long term friend, Gloria, participated on the shows with me as guests and my honorary daughter, Terry. (Terry still does this with me now, on occasion.)

One of the most fun times of that period was the online birthday party show I had. It didn’t turn out to be much in the way of a high quality radio show program. 

And, it certainly didn’t go much of anywhere in furthering my effort to share what I had learned from Watergate. 

But we sure had a lot of laughs doing it, particularly as all kinds of tech problems were plaguing me that day. They definitely put a spotlight on how un-savvy tech-wise I was at the time and still am, more or less. 

Still the show did go on. We made it through and now, to boot, we have a podcast to hold in perpetuity, at least as long as the internet and the world survives. 

You can hear some of my early stumbling around on the issue (this show has been renamed "Storytelling As A Vehicle For Change) and a handful of abortive answers to the question if you visit the web site of Anastasia The Storyteller Radio Show and listen in to any of the podcasts from 2013 – 2014. 

They aren’t very elegant but you might learn a thing or two, or have a laugh or so, especially if you listen to my online birthday party, July 18, 2013.

At the time of these early shows I was focusing on writing my Hot Pants, Motorcycles and K Street memoir. I thought, then, that my broadcasting of these programs could readily combine with my book writing project to help me reach my goal of sharing “what I learned from Watergate.”

(I have since put that piece down, replacing it with The Middle East Crisis In My Backyard memoir for the time being.)

Also at the time, I spent a good bit of time considering where Hot Pants, Motorcycles and K Street needed to go if it was to have the impact I wanted it to have. In particular I wanted it to  reflect the power games of Washington and their effect, as I lived it. 

These games, of course, continue on today and they can be deadly, especially for the innocent (Think Chandra Levy). 

They especially affect the many thousands of young people who flock to Washington to work on the Hill, in the White House and in the many surrounding government agencies and non-profit organizations. 

I know that world well. 

And I know its dangers. (Think that old timey book/movie “Looking For Mr. Goodbar” and you will know why I thought it important to reflect on the suicide of L. Wren Scott on several of my online radio shows. 

Been there, done that!

Yet at the time of my investment in the Hot Pants book, I was still in a wait and see mode, depending on how the 2016 presidential election campaign would turn out. If Hillary was to win, the book would have incorporated how I had become involved in the women’s movement at the tail end of my days in Washington. 

Certainly I could not imagine where life would head if Trump were elected. Unfortunately life these days now remains a toss-up about any future plans as a result of his win, at least as I see it in our society and politics.

The home front life, for now, remains pretty much the same, give or take.

In the early days of my Anastasia The Storyteller Radio Show I kept asking myself this question, “What did I learn from Watergate? and trying to articulate my answer for my listeners. 

But I never did nail it down, back then. 

Now I am asking myself again in this season of my serious annual July Birthday Month reflections.  That’s just how I am.

I do not yet have THE WHOLE ANSWER of what I learned from Watergate. But here are a few of the things that stand out for me now.

• How to identify a power/aggressive addict;
• What to do about power/aggressive addicts when they show up in my life and/or those close to me, personally and/or professionally;
• How co-dependent personalities intertwine their passive addictions with the power/aggressive addict to foster a whole multitude of problems;
• What the dynamic exchange of power as a currency looks like between these two types: power/aggressive addicts and passive/codependent addicts;
• How to break up this dysfunctional system;
• How to transform the toxic energy of that toxic system into something life-affirming and wonderful;
• The role lying plays in the GAME between the power/aggressive addict and the codependent/passive addict;
• How swamp draining in Washington can be accomplished, for real, one person at a time.

and probably a bunch more.  But I will stop here for now as I think I am beginning to see, for myself some, succinctly, of what I learned from Watergate.

I think I’ll now take time to chew on what I’ve learned while I consider what to do next with my bounty.

If you don’t have these lessons down pat for yourself as I absolutely know I do for myself and anywhere I am asked to serve on these issues, just ask Anastasia The Super Sleuth. 

She/I will be more than happy to share what we know, intellectually, and guide you to know the answers for yourself, experientially.

Anastasia The Storyteller/Super Sleuth can be reached at: 
MountainWomanRJ@aol.com.