Isn’t that the broader dilemma too? How, as they say, to walk lightly? Or how to keep our justified stomping — about injustice, cruelties, the various wrongs we might try to right — from drowning out the likes of music, birdsong, our gestures of ordinary kindness?
~ Barbara Hurd
(Listening to the Savage: River Notes & Half-Heard Melodies)
Whenever we go out we pass by this oversized yard sign on our way home. An identical one went up right after the last election and at some point it got so weathered that the homeowner replaced it with this one. Persistence. It reminds me that I’m not the only one who feels like we’re living in a world turned upside-down, a world impossible to navigate.
What a hopeful sign! I become so distressed some days by the news. I worry that the younger generations will think this upside-down world is normal and will disengage. I retreat into historical fiction and nonfiction. It reminds me that the world has always been unjust. Cold comfort, but it keeps me somewhat balanced. I still stomp and rage (and carry a protest sign whenever the opportunity arises) but have hope that someday this, too, shall pass. Your nature photographs have a calming effect which is much appreciated.
I know what you mean about reminding ourselves that the world has always been unjust. My father used to go on and on about how wonderful FDR and his New Deal were, while my sister and I just took for granted all the good things our government did for us. I didn’t even notice the change that got started when Reagan started harping on the idea that government was the problem in 1981. But what he started has blossomed progressively over the years to the situation we find ourselves in now. My youngest child was born in 1981. She has no memory of the world my father saw coming into being and the one I grew up in. But she understands what’s happening, thank goodness. I will definitely try to keep up with the nature photographs!
You are not alone!
Thank goodness! ♡
💜
🙏
It is good to be reminded that we don’t feel so all alone in a world that is so different than what we grew up with. Many times I have wished I was born in an earlier era, one that was simpler and more genteel.
I feel that way sometimes, too, but then I remind myself that earlier eras weren’t that great for some groups of people, and for most women. What is sad now is that some people are trying to take us back to the worst aspects of those bygone times.
That’s true Barbara and I hope that does not happen, in our lifetime or beyond.
Me, too. 🙏
Barbara, I suppose every generation has worried for fear the world is turning upside down around them … and not for the better. Others are probably trying to lie low so they won’t call attention to themselves. I’ve found that a steady diet of news and social media can be detrimental to my body, mind, and soul. This sign is a good reminder that we’re not alone, and it’s going to take all of us — working together — to resolve our differences.
That steady diet of bad news is definitely hurtful in so many ways. We somehow need to find a balance between protecting ourselves from it and yet remain well-informed citizens. It’s true what you say about every generation dealing with this. When I was a child it was the horrors of the Vietnam War on the evening news every night. The TV always seemed to be on while we were eating dinner. Hopefully we’ll all come to our senses sooner than later.
I’m with you. I find that each day it is more difficult to comprehend *why* what is going on, is going on. I watch in disbelief while stupidity drowns out intelligence. These are not the retirement years I was planning on.
The stupidity is staggering but it doesn’t feel safe to call it out. I know we’re not alone but sometimes it’s hard to imagine that we will actually get through this, when all evidence seems to be pointing to the contrary.
We must have hope. This sign reminds us of that.
I hope ‘our gestures of ordinary kindness’ will prevail.