We Are in Tough Times

 It feels like a hard time to be alive here on earth right now. Not only is the season here turning toward winter, with frosts and freezes, leaves falling, plants going to sleep, and animals thinking about hibernating. It's also discouraging to look around on the planet and take in what a mess we humans are making right now. Our political chaos in this country is shocking enough. But when we look further away, there is the angry and devastating war abroad. And on a wider scale, we are heading as a planet for another extinction much faster than anyone could have predicted. Not tomorrow, or even in our lifetimes, but cosmically speaking just around the corner. It is all sobering. I usually wait to be inspired to write a blog post. But inspiration has been hard to find for a couple of weeks. 

It is easy to feel alone and disengaged when we're in these kinds of days, at least for me. My energy goes down. Sometimes I just can't get inspired to do anything much. And then I feel guilty, because it would make sense during such social crises and planetary dangers that we would feel our adrenaline pushing us out there to do all we can to help. The problem is that it's hard to know what we can do. These issues are so big, and the decision-makers so out of reach. I have felt my initiative going down as I pull into my winter psychological burrough. 

Fortunately there are things on my calendar that push me out in the world, like the medicinal herb workshop I gave this past Saturday, or sitting around a beautiful bonfire that evening, or eating last night with other Prairie Hill residents for "Tasty Tuesday". On Sunday I was sitting in Friends Meeting, still relatively uninspired but at least sitting with other people, all of us bringing ourselves together no matter how we were feeling. And then one attender spoke out of the silence and set me on an upward path again. He was speaking from his own reality of living through these tough times. And his words painted a metaphor for me that lifted me up. He described walking up his personal life path, walking up the trail toward what he believed was the good, the right way. And the trail sometimes was steep and hard. Often there were chasms on either side of the trail. You needed to be aware of the chasms, for you wouldn't want to fall into one. But they were also scary and distracting.  If you looked long at them, you could get confused and lose your way. So you needed to keep your eyes on the path, on your beliefs, on your own truth, and walk past the precipices on the edge, following that path lit by your intention into the future.

This message lightened my spirit. Partly, it showed me that I was not the only one who was struggling with the state of the world. I was not alone. I felt one of many rather than worried and isolated. But it also reminded me that I still have a path, still can follow it, and if I just keep my eyes and heart on the things I hold to be true and important, I can keep going. So I went home from Friends Meeting lighter and more engaged. Then the next evening I ended up sitting in the doctor's waiting room for over 2 hours. So I took out my phone and went to the file I'd labeled "To Read". It holds all the theoretically excellent articles that people have emailed me. I hate to delete them, but I haven't had time to read them. So I spent that 2 hours reading enlightening and comforting pieces by people like Krista Tippet. By the time the nurse called me in, I was smiling. 

The articles made me breathe deeply and relax, made me look wider than the awful things going on. The authors were as concerned as I am, writing from the same place on a world in trouble. But somehow just knowing that these high profile people were struggling to find the right way to be on the planet during such tough times helped me to feel in good company. The other thing that happened while I was reading was that time and again I was seeing beautiful writing, beautiful thinking, and examples of humanity's laudable qualities. We are not all bad. We've accomplished some truly incredible things in our short stay on earth. And despite our pitfalls, we can also reach the heights. All that gave me the chance to focus on the good. And inspiration to engage and have hope. For that I'm thankful.

On this dark gloomy day in Iowa, it is good for me to remember the inspirations of the last couple days, and share them with you. That way, I will remember them better, and perhaps they will light a bit of a candle for you too. There is much to be grateful for, even in the midst of chaos. And together we are stronger than by ourselves.

It is a serious thing

Just to be alive

On this fresh morning

In this broken world

       --Mary Oliver