Equilibrium

The day is going to be clear and bright; the temperature is 57 degrees fahrenheit. Today is Saturday.

We could sure use more balance these days. We are so out of whack. Oppositional forces are playing out at every level and no one seems to possess any clarity on how things can be brought back from the brink of dropping off a cliff. This must be why so many are turning to alcohol, drugs to deaden the pain, and psychedelics to open into realities that can't be tapped without a little help.

The latter seems like the best way to go. It might be the only way for people to open their minds and move into a space where the impossible becomes real - at least for a few moments in time. The idea that we should keep ourselves in a state of constant tension and vigilance about what could happen next, doesn't seem very healthy. Unfortunately, the best option is illegal.

Yesterday, a problem was solved for a guy who had served prison time for trying to escape our current reality. After being released from prison, he tried to do what every re-entry person is supposed to do: find paying work to support himself. He was an addict as a young person and made dumb moves that landed him in custody - more than once or twice. And of course, the short jail terms didn't do anything for the addiction, so he violated probation and ended up doing prison time - short, but longer than local time. While in prison, he had his awareness expanded – the experience is something like being in another world -without the help of psychedelics.

Instead of resisting treatment when it became an option later - he decided to accept rehab. And after succeeding there, he went to work so he could get his employment record started. He decided to apply to be a cook, a job he had done while inside. The duties include handling hot and cold food, lifting pots and pans, chopping vegetables, and other related tasks. He didn't get the job. In fact, he didn't even get past 10 minutes of the interview. In the casual exchange that happens in interviews, he was asked about his career goals and he answered he wanted to be an addiction counselor and was getting his certification for that. He was asked if he had been to prison and he answered honestly. The interviewer abruptly ended the conversation with, "We don't hire felons..." (That happens to be an illegal move for the employer.). That threw him off and he knew being cut off was wrong because he had been educated about what might happen in trying to get a job as a newly released prisoner. But he didn't say anything in the moment. Rejection can really throw you off balance.

He caught himself shortly after the experience – as we all have done after rejections and disappointments and failures. He knew what he needed to do to get back into the game and recover his sense of self. Following through with persistence (over two years!), he affirmed his rights, won some cash, got the employer educated, and hopefully prevented others from having to go through the same experience. It happens one-by-one. This guy's story is a story moving past ignorance, superficiality, judgment in the world.

It is a story that is a reminder to us all, of how to bring equilibrium back into our world. Knowledge, courage, self-dignity, willingness to engage the system, and determination. Sounds about right.