A Road Reflection

The day is bright, sunny, and COLD.  49 degrees fahrenheit in Boston, and the energy is light and playful.  Yesterday the temperatures were in the low 80's and today, the high will be somewhere in the low 60's – that's the world shift via the heavens. Today is Wednesday.

The miracle of travel today is that one can move in a matter of hours, across an entire continent.  Take a little more time, and one can be on the other side of the world.  It is, truly, miraculous.  And, when you think about it - the invitation to take up learning about other cultures (even in domestic travel), customs, and languages is wide open as never before.  

We can be transported across so many worlds and then, realize that fundamentally, human beings are the same.  Everyone takes a bit of pride in how they live or have lived for generations.  We/they want safety and shelter for families.  We/they all want to keep children healthy.  We/they know what it is to celebrate, to share, and to grieve together.  And it is so easy to forget this.  Remembering our common humanity is actually a challenge for many, today.

To speak and to focus on the fact of our common humanity is too often considered idle talk and useless.  Yet, it is the fact of having forgotten this, both at an individual and societal level, that has led to so many conflicts and so much suffering.  The fact that social media, conventional media, other channels of sharing events around the world reinforces the tendency toward distrust and fear doesn't help.  (Thinking about the supposed "hordes" at the southern border of the U.S. - that never materialized once Title 42 ended.).

One is blessed if surrounded by people who keep "the news" at arms length, and are actually more focused on the engagement in living.  While it is important to be informed about events in the world or community, it is more important to be a part of the energy that offers hope, connection, and inspiration.  Even if one faces the possibility of demise in the day that is held open for living - if one has been a part of the life energy that is circulating all the time and making a contribution to uplift, at least it would be a life worth living.  Demise is inevitable anyway.

Without the kind of full entry into life that is possible for every person, there will always be a sense of lacking.  Something missing from life, call it purpose or reason for being alive.  Some will turn to sport, to food, to self-medication.  Few turn toward the problems of the world that can be overwhelming and consider what they can do to balance or ease the pain. If there was a bit of caring, of sharing, of taking a moment to consider what (small) part one can play - the world would be in a lot less pain. And the sense of something missing - small but persistent in its presence in one's awareness - could be transformed.  That transformation in the world would also bring transformation within.  

We are so focused on solutions, answers, and "the right answers" at that.  The search only leads to more questions.  So why not do what the old teachers have always taught:  Look at where you are now, right here/now - and start from this place.