When It All Seems to be Going to S__t…
This blog post is also available on my Facebook page to make sharing it with friends and family easy for you to do.
When the world
Around us
Appears
Headed
In
The
Totally
And
Absolutely
Wrong
Direction,
When it all seems
To be going
To shit,
What is it exactly,
That we do?
Somebody
Remind
Us,
Please.
~~~
Feel what
Is there.
As best you can.
And…
Look for the beauty
Look for the grace.
Right?
Be with
Reality’s
Harshness
And
Find
Its
Softness,
Too.
Softness?
Listen for
The bird call,
Feel the
Touch
Of
The
Sun.
Hug a dog,
(Probably one
That you know),
Call a loved one.
Swin.
Dunk.
Get
Those
Tootsies,
Those
Tired
Old
Feet…
Cooled
The
F___
Down.
(That’s the
Technical
Term.)
~~
What else?
How else
Do we
Bear
The
Unraveling
Of
What
Was?
OH!
Feel it.
Notice it.
Consider it.
Be present
With
What
Life
Is
Giving
Us.
~~~
Remember?
We get it all.
We get it—
All!
We must
Attend
To
The
Softness,
The beauty.
We must
Not
Deprive
Ourselves…
~~~
And
From
This
Place
Of self-connection,
Of
Larger-sourced
Connection,
TAKE ACTION.
Get to a rally.
Write a congressman,
Send a letter.
No matter how
Futile
It
Might
Feel…
TAKE ACTION.
VOTE.
Of course.
Vote.
Donate money,
However
That
Might
Make
Sense
For
You.
as well as—
Smile
At
Someone
You
Don’t
Know.
Hug
Someone
You
Do.
~~~
Remembering
The profound
Words
Of
Joanna Macy,
Activist
Scholar,
Buddhist,
Environmentalist
For
Decades:
We are meant
To be here
Now,
To
Bear witness,
Now.
We are here
To bear witness
To the suffering.
~~~
Joanna says it best in just three minutes. It is a privilege to offer her wisdom to you:
~~~
And here is an early feminist. This song was written in 1964 by a high school student, well before the bells of feminism beckoned us forward. Please listen.
~~~
Leslie Gore. After her fame cooled, she came out as a lesbian. She lived for 30 years with her partner in her beloved New York City, after spending years working for lesbian and gay equality. She died too young, in 2016.
The relevancy in this song—from 1964—
Amazing.
~~~
What to do?
What to do?
Listen to music
With passion
And
Purpose.
Feel Nina Simone, here 1965, with Mississippi Goddamn:
~~~
What to do?
Just practice.
Being with
What is
And leaning
toward
Inspiration!
What inspires you, dear friends?
For me it is—
Cold ponds,
Smiling dogs,
Busy chipmunks,
Birds!
Kindness,
Good shades
Of blue,
Inspired
People,
People
Leaning
Together
For
Change.
~~~
What is it
For you?
Remember
And
Lean
In
That
Direction.
~~~
One more song for us.
Odetta in Japan, 1966.
~~~
With love,
Dear friends,
For all
Of us.
Now,
Then,
And
Always—
Aruni