Inundated

This day is wet, wild, and swollen with nature's elixir.  The rains have been missed for a couple of years, causing major concerns about drought conditions in the region.  The gift of water has been delivered in the past few days - but it is a reminder of what it means to "be careful what you ask for..."

As conditions due to climate change intensify, the realization that people are facing a truly critical shift in how we live is growing.  It is difficult to ignore what is right in front of one's face.  Today, the news reports multiple stories of communities being inundated by the rains that have come.  The faucet won't be turned off for another day, if weather forecasts are to be believed.  So far, the impact being reported is about the impact on transit infrastructures - few reports of deaths, but one tragic loss was a boy aged 5 swept away by the waters in Montecito, a very wealthy enclave in Santa Barbara county.  Another reminder:  money can't buy everything.

If there was a way to moderate, there might be a chance of survival and recovery in our collective future.  But these times are about extremes.  The examples are plentiful and concerning because even with all the signals, things don't seem to be shifting.

The extreme in weather, tied to the refusal to change human behavior. The extreme in politics, both in rhetoric and action (as in yesterday's attack on the Brazilian capitol).  The extreme in viewpoints that are part of everyday conversation (which depends on whether one reads or listens to "left mainstream" media or Youtube).  The extreme in sheltering people (as in the housing crisis that seems to be everywhere in California where shelter is beyond affordability).  The extreme in natural resources essential for functioning homes and businesses (as in the triple increase of natural gas prices).  One could go on.  But for now, will not.

Today's living is inundated with the consequences of failing to recognize the core of human existence requires us to walk the middle way.  No one seems to know what this means, or how to do it.  The duality (of right/wrong; good/bad; worthy/unworthy) persists in human existence.  As a consequence, we are moving more quickly to the inevitable when dualities are the frame - conflict/demise. Forgetting about the quality of human potential that arises out of a place of yielding, of sharing, of thinking beyond self and about the commons/communal/community has erased the possibility of moving away from extremes.

The idea is taking hold:  that the disappearance of human beings would not have much impact on the health of the universe.  In fact, the universe might be better off without people.  This anti-natalist view has been written about for many years, by many anti-humanists (check David Benatar).  And unless there is a shift (and a radical one) toward caring and compassion - and away from self-centered thought and behavior, the idea of a future may be nothing more than an illusion/delusion according to those who believe the natural course is extinction.

Perhaps the self-obsession is a survival skill.  To live in contemporary conditions requires so much of each:  balancing work/family life; balancing budgets; balancing diets; balancing opinions shared in conversations or media; balancing all the accounts/passwords that need to be created for security - and where does one learn the skill of balance, of listening, of allowing a space for wisdom and compassion to enter?

Only one way has been proven to be effective over thousands of years of human existence:  to sit with the great silence, to learn to empty all the garbage that enters one's consciousness, to be still in the midst of all the chaos of the day.  Whether at the start or the end of a day's cycle, being still with no inputs or outputs, moving away from "discussion" about issues and options, allowing the essence of life to enter (the breath) - one can find balance and allow the experience of being inundated to be a rich source of inspiration.  And on some days, one can emerge with whatever wondrous realization the universe has to deliver.

One forgets how vast the gifts of the universe.  Our small minds are no match for the Mind.