It is difficult for me to embrace the changing of the seasons. Particularly this year, as I have enjoyed a good deal of sunshine this summer. Spending time in the sun has, in fact, become part of my daily routine. I will miss it when the days grow short.
September is much different for me this year. I left my job at Planet Care and have been doing odd jobs to make ends meet: jobs such as weeding gardens, cleaning out gutters, pet-sitting, interior house-painting. I've been using my muscles, sweating, getting dehydrated, re-hydrating, but especially spending time in the sun. This sort of hard, physical work, this being outdoors and next to the sun, has helped me to feel my Self - an unadulterated sense of who I am, how to take care of myself, and how to begin to peaceably co-exist with others.
I was walking my dog, Soupy Sales, this morning when I noticed a student walking to the Higher Education Area Transit (HEAT) stop. She seemingly wanted to avoid any interaction. But I spoke a greeting and wished her a good day. She smiled in a genuine manner and seemed grateful for this small kindness. And I wondered about that.
Do today's youth feel it is necessary to be prepared for bad things at all times? Do most of us feel this is necessary?
I have a lot of compassion for today's youth because in my opinion they have lost a connection to their source: the earth. Not all of them. But it occurs to me that people who grow up in cities without easy access to nature are cheated. They are exposed to a denser concentration of culture. And maybe that serves as a means of connecting to the earth. I may not know what I'm talking about. It just seems to me that there is a fundamental urge in us all to feel connected to the land. And this may not be immediately apparent to people who have never had access to nature.
Maybe I'm projecting.
But the youth of today have extremely challenging conditions in which to grow up. There are not many decent role models in positions of leadership, for example. The current state of the economy creates significant financial obstacles. Prejudice comes in many varieties and manifests in extreme forms. The environment needs tender loving care, yet power possessing beings who are controlled by greed and power lust will continue to do things to the environment to further hurt it. I don't know how I would feel growing up in such a world as this. When I was 18, I was aware of the bullshit in the world but felt a sense of hope, a sense that obstacles could be overcome.
I continue to experience this hope, though it has taken on a different form from that of my 18 year-old self. When I was 18, for example, there seemed to be breathing room, a sense of expansiveness left on the planet. This was in 1979. Today, there is less breathing room, less space left in which to create something new. Maybe this is just a perspective of my advancing age. But it seems that as compared with 1979, there are many more obstacles to overcome in this world.
Far from making me discouraged, I believe in the resilience and the intelligence of human beings. I know that we are smart. I know we can create a better set of conditions in which our youth may grow and carry hope in their hearts. I feel a deep responsibility to future generations to work like hell for the duration of my life to address all the issues I mentioned above.
I have a request to make of you at this point, gentle reader: I ask that you consider every action, every word spoken, with great care. Consider how it will help. And I would ask that if you see there is no use in contributing an action or a word to our planetary zeitgeist, if it would be harmful rather than helpful, would you please refrain from executing this action or this speech?
Be mindful that every small word and deed affects the greater whole.
In a similar vein, rather than focus on each other's differences, can we please focus on our similarities? For example, I feel relatively secure in making the following statement: all of us wants to be healthy and happy. In order for us to be healthy and happy, all of us needs a means of providing ourselves and our families with the resources to make these concepts a reality. We all need healthy food, clean water, shelter, clothing, access to healthcare, We all need these things. Can we focus on this for just one moment a day? Then stretch that moment to the next moment. Until soon, we can accept this truth with all of our being.
I believe we can learn to love others and have compassion for their journey to achieve health and happiness. But each of us needs to work very hard to attain this love. We need to cease being judgmental and begin to stretch our imaginations to consider the circumstances in which others speak or act out. I direct these comments to my liberal friends as well as my conservative ones. Because we all are guilty of making reactionary judgments.
All I am asking is take a moment to think before speaking, before acting. Just stop and think for a moment: how will this statement or this action help put the world in a better place?
Thank-you for reading.
Love,
kathyclark
I have had similar thoughts and feelings. For me, it does seem to be a factor of age.
ReplyDeleteIn one sense, as I age, time seems to collapse. I grab at and attempt to hold moments that zoom by ever more quickly. In other ways, time expands and slows. I see things from the observer vantage point...almost on a geological scale, so to speak.
I see that glimmer of hope and determination in the eyes of students whom I've taught. They are ready and excited to deal with the obstacles. They are ready to work and fight and argue, just like we were years ago.
There may be less breathing room, less time, less space for us, but it is still there for them. We just pass the torch.