Let's Celebrate What Remains!
& a few other things we can still do in these fraught, fractious, difficult times
This post began percolating in my mind a few weeks back, when I was camping in Algonquin Park. (Oh heavenly place!!)
I first conceived of it as “10 Commandments for These (Strange) Times.”
Then quickly thought better of the title. “Commandments” is such a bossy word. We human beings are such a species of bossy control freaks, are we not?? Always trying to tell everyone else what to do. What to believe. What to think. At the point of a gun, often, even. Sheesh.
So. Let’s just think of it as a few ideas for how to deal with the world that seems to be growing exponentially insane around us.
Oy. It isn’t just the squirrels that are squirrelly lately! I get feeling a little squirrelly myself sometimes. And I’d swear the insanity around us is actually ramping daily. (Road rage?? Rage-ier by the day, I’ll warrant. Fractious humans all around us, no??)
I recall saying to my children a few years back (in pre-Covid times) that it sure seemed as though the world was getting crazier by the day. Long since adults, both nodded their heads. I added that maybe the only thing we can do (since making things less insane just doesn’t seem to be in the cards, however much we might wish & work for that), is to do our best not to add to it.
I think this is still reasonable advice.
Hey, I could go on at length about all the ways the world is exploding with madness, but I think we all know the drill. Our species seems to have gone pretty much wacko – & yet there’s the thing. Although I believe our species is actually insane – & that this kind of means we’re all probably a little insane ourselves (to varying degrees – with a disturbing trend toward the out-and-out psychopaths running the show)…
“What sane person could live in this world and not be crazy?” – Ursula K. LeGuin
there is a fair amount of decent stuff going on. On some fronts. Discussed in my post a few back now, about Covid Heroes
And that’s to be celebrated ... don’t you think?
In fact, when I cooked up my little list of “10 commandments,” the final one was “Celebrate what remains.”
Which you’ll see if you read your way through this little essay. I’ll include a list of some of the good things I see that do remain. (You will likely find more of your own to add to the list.)
To be clear here, I am not a myopic, rose-coloured-glasses-wearing Pollyanna who’s blind to the nastiness we’re all immersed in right up to our eyeballs. I’ve been a pretty active activist for the past 35 or so years (mostly on the environmental front), and thus am DEEPLY aware of what a mess we humans have made on our lovely planet – especially in terms of environmental destruction (of myriad sorts & varieties) – along with social inequities of eons’ standing.
Ai yi yi - I know, I know!
Some days (most days??) my heart gets to feeling very, very broken. It’s a roller coaster we’re living on, hmmm? Some times my heart hurts so much I lose the ability to follow my own good advice. E.g. about celebrating what remains.
But.
Here we are! We may be headed for Armageddon/the Apocalypse/our own extinction – I think this is all too likely!
Meanwhile, we need to be able to keep our heads screwed on – & mindful of doing our best not to ADD to the insanity.
Right?
So. Here’s a list of things I think can help us stay human in the midst of the swirling chaos.
1. Being kind
“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” – Plato, Greek author & philosopher in Athens (427 B.C. – 347 B.C.)
Patient. Friendly! Compassionate. Generous. Calm. On the lookout for the best in people. When we & others around us behave well, life is just so much more pleasant. And hey – smiling! It’s both free & contagious.
2. Listening!
Everyone has something to say. We all need to be heard. And if you ask me, conversation is just about the most important, most essential, most potentially healing thing going! (I call it the Whole Darn Karmic Enchilada. I wrote about that here.)
3. Being quiet
We all need some silence in our lives. What a busy, noisy world we live in! (I live on a busy street in Canada’s largest city, so I really do know about noise.) But we all need some peace & quiet on a regular basis. Much easier to stay kind & calm & all those other good things if we get some peace & quiet & solitude on a regular basis. Slowing down is a good idea, too. (I’ve been learning this lesson lately ... slowly.) A break from our “devices” can be a very good thing.
4. Appreciating Nature
Birds. Trees. Lakes rivers streams oceans. Forests. Critters. (Even watching those silly squirrels can be entertaining. And raccoons! Assuming, of course, they’re not tearing into the food pack ... in the middle of the night ... when you’re out camping. Been there – luckily not recently!) Nature is soooooo healing.
“After you have exhausted what there is in business, politics, conviviality, and so on – have found that none of these finally satisfy, or permanently wear – what remains? Nature remains.” – Walt Whitman, poet (1819-1892)
5. Giving thanks
Actively practicing gratitude on a regular basis. It can really turn our lives around to start taking note of (& actively appreciating) the good things in our lives – rather than obsessing over what’s “wrong” ... or missing. We can feel full with gratitude – over “small” things other people likely wouldn’t even notice. What a great feeling! As far as that goes, the supposedly “small” things in life are really kind of the big ones, don’t you think? The “big” ones so seldom go our way ... do they?? We might as well do our best to appreciate the “small” ones. (My old blog site has a page of great quotations about gratitude, along with a bunch of postings about it. Check it out!)
6. Staying curious!
Always learning. Growing. I aim to keep learning/growing right up until the day I croak! The Covid era certainly provides us with many examples of things to be very, very curious about. To question. Dig into.
“Curiosity is the first step down the path of awakening.” – sign spotted on church billboard
7. Doing our best to lay aside fearful thoughts
It’s impossible to think clearly when we’re all caught up in fear (the rational side of our brain just leaves the building!). We need to be able to use our minds constructively, not have them hampered by endless obsessive, fearful thoughts. (There’s plenty going on in the world to be afraid about. Concerned about. I get it! But letting fear – or the fear-mongers – control our lives – is not a good way to live. It’s just no damn fun!) This 3 1/2 minute video
can help place fear into perspective.
8. Avoiding unnecessary drama
‘Cos it’s a real energy-drainer. We can also try not to unwittingly add fuel to other people’s dramas. (Many folks seem to be addicted to it. Sigh. So exhausting to be around people like that.) I concocted a silly little drama of my own recently. At least I was able to recognize that it was a drama of my own making. Becoming conscious of drama is a helpful thing in learning to scale it down.
9. Surrendering
Seems to me there is plenty we’d all be wise to surrender to. That’s not a welcome piece of advice for us control-freak humans, is it? But. Some things simply cannot be changed. “Fixed.”
“Some people think it’s holding on that makes one strong. Sometimes it’s letting go.” – Sylvia Robinson
In a phrase I coined several years ago, “Cut your losses. Go where the energy is.”
And ... rebelling/resisting!
Since there are times when raising Hell is very appropriate! Raising Hell – or simply refusing to comply with absurd rules/regulations/mandates/dictates. Not being “sheep,” as it were. Standing up for ourselves!
“A society of sheep must in time beget a government of wolves.” – Bertrand De Jouvenel
“Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living.” – Mary Harris “Mother” Jones
10. Celebrating what remains!
What remains?
Lots of good things!
Nature. Beauty!
Flowers. Birds! Sunrises & sunsets. The moon! Forests/trees. Rivers, lakes, streams. All that.
Love. Loving gestures. Loving our peeps well.
Family.
Friends. Friendship.
Simple friendliness. To one’s neighbours, say. People one encounters when out & about.
Small gestures – like saying “Good morning” to someone while out walking. (People sometimes do this to me, in my neighbourhood, & it’s so cheering!)
Kindness. Compassion.
Books!! Reading. Libraries.
Music.
Buddhist thought. (I don’t subscribe to any religion, but have long found Buddhist thought to be very helpful. You know: living in the present moment. Be. Here. Now. & all that… Compassion. Non-judgment.)
Alan Watts YouTubes. Ahhhh... so helpful, for me. Calming. Insightful.
Being inspired by other people’s good actions/good example.
Integrity. (There are many-many people, still, of great integrity, who are doing good things. Lots of them! It’s actually pretty amazing that in a time of such turmoil - with all our human-made systems so broken - there are still so many people who retain their moral compass. Kind of miraculous, almost!)
Heroes. Warriors!
Apologies (see great quotation below).
Resting. Slowing down & living at a human pace.
Picking up the phone. Mailing a cheery card to someone you care about.
Our infinite capacity to keep right on learning! Growing. Healing. Learning, however belatedly, to “connect the dots.”
Conversation. (Remember: it’s the Whole Darn Karmic Enchilada!)
Walking. (lots of great quotes here)
Being. Of. Use
Hey, Reader....
Listen. It’s too late for some things! I’m pretty sure many of the problems we humans have created cannot be “fixed.” Our species is on a … how shall I say? … rather precarious path. A troubling trajectory (been on it for quite a long while, I’d say). But there are some things it’s not too late for. A lot still matters! “Big” things. “Little” ones. Maybe now’s the perfect time for the “simple” things to take on more meaning than ever.
Let’s hang on hard to the good stuff. Not feed (or focus on) the fear, nastiness & fractiousness.
Let’s stay human!
** some other great Orwell stuff
Some (relevant) quotations to throw into the mix:
“Think big thoughts, but relish small pleasures.” – H. Jackson Brown Jr.
“What’s important is not what’s gone, but what remains.” ~ from the 2009 film ‘Home’
(I likely saw this film in 2009. I don’t remember it now – so many years have gone by!? But I see you can still watch it online – & of course as a perennial quotation harvester, I recorded the quote back then, when I saw the documentary.)
“After you have exhausted what there is in business, politics, conviviality, and so on – have found that none of these finally satisfy, or permanently wear – what remains? Nature remains.” – Walt Whitman, poet (1819-1892)
Fun, short (1 1/2 minute) video about Nature. Is it for you?
“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” – Plato, Greek author & philosopher in Athens (427 B.C. – 347 B.C.)
“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.” – Mother Teresa
“Don’t be yourself. Be someone a little nicer.” – Mignon McLaughlin, journalist and author (1913-1983)
“A thousand words will not leave so deep an impression as one deed.” – Henrik Ibsen
“Example is not the main thing in influencing others, it’s the only thing.” – Albert Schweitzer
“Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.” – Sign over Albert Einstein’s desk at Princeton
“Only connect. This is how we make meaning. This is how we learn to think as Nature thinks.” – Gregory Bateson, anthropologist
“The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances. If there is any reaction, both are transformed.” – Carl Jung, quoted in Delia Ephron’s lovely memoir Left on Tenth – A Second Chance at Life
“It’s one of the secrets of the world. We all have the key to one another’s locks. But until we start to talk, we don’t know it.” – Michael Silverblatt
“We must make our homes centres of compassion and forgive endlessly.” – Mother Teresa
“I get rich quick when I count my blessings.” (spotted on a church billboard some years ago)
“In our daily lives, we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but the gratefulness that makes us happy.” – Albert Clarke, quoted in Speak Peace in a World of Conflict – What You Say Next Will Change Your World, by Marshall B. Rosenberg
“The miracle of gratitude is that it shifts your perception to such an extent that it changes the world you see.” – Dr. Robert Holden
“If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is!” – author Kurt Vonnegut, a self-described “old fart who exhorted his readers to look for opportunities to say this as often as humanly possible. Vonnegut also believed we all need to find ourselves lots of people to take the place of the extended families we have mostly lost. My way of putting it? We all need a tribe.
** many more great quotations about gratitude
“Thomas Merton, the Trappist monk and social activist, once said that as he grew older he came to understand that it was not ideas that change the world but simple gestures of love given to the people around you, and often to those you feel most at odds with. He said that in order to save the world you must serve the people in your life. ‘You gradually struggle less and less for an idea,’ Merton wrote, ‘and more and more for specific people. In the end, it is the reality of personal relationship that saves everything.’” – from Broken Open – How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow, by Elizabeth Lesser
“I do not want to talk about what you understand about this world. I want to know what you will do about it. I do not want to know what you hope. I want to know what you will work for. I do not want your sympathy for the needs of humanity. I want your muscle.” – “Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.” – Albert Einstein“Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.” – Albert Einstein
“A clear conscience is more valuable than wealth.” – Filipino proverb
“Apology is a lovely perfume; it can transform the clumsiest moment into a gracious gift.” – Margaret Lee Runbeck
“It’s never too late to apologize.” – Joy Fielding (b. 1945), Canadian writer
“War is what happens when language fails.” – Margaret Atwood (in The Robber Bride)
“Be joyful, though you have considered the facts.” – Wendell Berry, poet, farmer, writer, big thinker
“The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.” – Kahlil Gibran
“We need to be happy in this wonderland without once being merely comfortable.” – G. K. Chesterton
“The miracle is this – the more we share, the more we have.” – Leonard Nimoy
“4 Rules for Life: Show up. Pay attention. Tell the truth. Don’t be attached to the results.” – Angeles Arrien, U.S. teacher, author (1940 – )
“Wake up.
Kick ass.
Be kind.
Repeat.” – Rob Brezsny
In his later years he [Aldous Huxley] made a surprising confession. “It is a bit embarrassing to have been concerned with the human problem all one's life,” he wrote, “and find at the end that one has no more to offer by way of advice than 'Try to be a little kinder.'" – quoted by Rob Brezsny
“I want to tear this damned place [the Warsaw Ghetto] apart. But we are powerless, and it is pointless.” “Maybe playing a part in the Resistance isn’t even about winning a battle,” Elzbieta said, after a pause. “Maybe it’s just about being true to your values. About standing up for the things you believe and those you love, even if you know you can’t win.” & then, a bit later: “She had drawn the shape of a fist, painfully clenched, and underneath she had written There are many ways to fight, but striving for justice is always worth the battle.” – from The Warsaw Orphan, by Kelly Rimmer
“Be COURAGEOUS! It’s the only place that isn’t crowded.” – Sign in Body Shop “Bored” Room
“Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.” – Albert Einstein
“No matter how far you’ve gone down a wrong road, TURN BACK!” – Source unknown
“Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely.” – Karen Kaiser Clark
“Be careful not to do something permanently stupid because you are temporarily angry, stressed, scared, tired or hungry.” – Karen Salmansohn
“Do you have the patience to wait ‘til your mud settles and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving ‘til the right action arises by itself?” – Lao-tzu
“All’s you can do is your best,” he says. “Sometimes it doesn’t work out the way you intend it to. You just gotta keep doing it anyway.” – character in the Tana French novel The Searcher
“Tripping [canoe tripping] teaches you responsibility. ...It gives you fitness and strength. But most of all it teaches you about teamwork. Teamwork is everything in life. People who don’t get that I don’t understand.” – Michael Budman being quoted in Canoe Country – The Making of Canada, by Roy MacGregor
“Don’t fight forces – use them.” – Buckminster Fuller
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the one most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” – Charles Darwin
“Truth is the only safe ground to stand on.” – Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Quotations? Heck. I could go on here for simply ages! Been collecting inspiring ones for about 30 years now. There are many-many good ones (in a lot of different categories) housed in the Quotation Central section of my old blog site.