Hard fists
The day is wide open. Energy is moving and skies are clear. The temperature is at 47 degrees fahrenheit (and the heater is broken). Today is Tuesday.
After weeks of reports about bombings, innocent lives being lost, the decimation of whole cultures and peoples, we now know the force of a punch with hard fists. There are different ways a fight can be taken up, some with soft fists and swift motion, turning the energy back to the source; others with hard fists and steady rhythms, creating no space for self-protection; and still other fights can happen with no fists at all - just punishing silence, isolation, or blindness to what is happening. We do this both at an individual and at a societal level.
It feels like we have been pummeled for weeks, months with images and words that keep coming, with no end in sight. This is how the whole year may be with constant updates about political trials, telling the details of how corruption happens among those entrusted with our present and future conditions of life. It is unavoidable to walk past or be close to conversations among others who are talking about the crisis of the moment - whether a disaster on a plane, a disaster on the planet such as earthquakes, or disasters connected to fighting wars to save our democracy. The risk is that we normalize all of this and do so without realizing that the temperature in the pot is rising and soon, we may all be cooked.
Where the hope resides is in nature and numbers. In nature, we have constant reminders that there are in fact, miracles and magic all around us – look deeply and you will find that the golden ratio is always there. It is one example of pure beauty, both in science and the arts. We are surrounded by the chance to see what can happen if we walk more gently in our lives and pay attention. And yet, that walk is never taken by so many... literally and figuratively.
We are just "too busy" with keeping up the insanity of life to notice that in order to have a break through, we need to make the time to pause and see beyond the horizon of daily demands of life. Where is the chance for beauty, for understanding, for caring about creativity and other unknown paths to be taken? Mostly, it is in the realm of music, art, poetry, and new life emerging.
The hope today is also in the fact that many more people are realizing that the way we are governing ourselves and attending to modern living, needs to be retired. A new/old way needs to be adopted so that we can reasonably adapt to the changes that are happening. The hardness of living is evident in so much that can be seen in communities today. As one wise teacher said years ago, "There was a time when being poor was not equivalent to violence. That is changing. Remember the vows you took."