Dreaming the World

A cloudy, damp, deeply chilling day. Heavier rain is forecast for a bit later.

A family of starlings have set up housekeeping just outside our dining room windows and fill the house with song in the mornings and in the early evening. Yesterday I noted a fledgling starling on the roof.

I woke this morning feeling sad, anxious, and angry, and have not yet managed to move on from it. This past week I’ve struggled to be creative in the face of so much harsh news, and have felt at times that I had to paddle fiercely just to stay emotionally afloat. (Please excuse the mixed metaphors.) Earlier Jennie tried to share some of the day’s craziness and I was way short. I’d like to be able to simply talk about the events of the day without being so reactive, and some days that just seems beyond me.

Today is a day of protest around the country and brings the threat of chaos created by thugs on both sides of the political spectrum. Having slogged through the civil rights and anti-Vietnam eras I know the harm the crazies can do. Surely the massive decline in empathy that has occurred in our country over the past fifty years makes the present moment even more explosive.

The past couple of days the government has resorted to distortions and lies to try to lessen the impact of today’s protests. Back in the day the government insisted the Russians were supporting the protests (disability and civil rights, the bomb, the environment, and Vietnam). Now it’s the Chinese. Of course this is all just propaganda but it adds additional levels of danger for all of us. Once again the government is willing to risk massive violence in the vain hope of consolidating some semblance of power; over the long term it is a fool’s errand.

In the background lie a number of studies out this week that show the environment is collapsing faster than models predict, even as the political will to address environmental issues is weaking here and in much of the world. It is as though many people have decided that things can’t get that bad, even as imperially they are, and will. Then, too, many folks just feel overwhelmed.

Of course, there are innumerable acts of kindness and resistance taking place around the globe, and many real victories in a broad swath of realms. Even so, a large part of my malaise arises from the concern that we are still losing ground, and worse, that we increasingly live in a collectively created virtual world in which right action is hard to discern and employ.

It seems likely that in spite of our best efforts to deny the impacts of our behaviours, reality will come for us. I deeply desire a different and better outcome for all beings and the planet, and today that future seems more illusive than usual.