I started writing a post about accountability this morning and completely lost steam after my initial zeal and cup of coffee ran out. Although there seemed to be a decently strong thread running through it, I deleted it and decided to start over again.
In spite of my optimism amidst the chaos of the last couple months, there are times when the daily bummer that is news intrudes on my Zen-like focus and balance within the world.
Okay, that’s not even remotely true. I mean, the bummer part of it is – just not the Zen bit. As anyone who’s been around me for awhile (or listened to Free Range Idiocy) knows, I’m always one good trigger away from a sizable rant that, although it may be humorous at times, will nonetheless be exhausting for everyone involved.
Watching people try to converse these days gives me the distinct impression that we’re living in two different worlds here in the USA. And, much like trying to have a discussion with my teenager, it seems that someone is always ready to argue some point – no matter how mundane, irrelevant, or nonexistent it might be. It makes communication something akin to establishing ground rules for a baseball game in the middle of a food fight where the other person doesn’t even think baseball is a real game.
It’d be nice to say that one can live their entire life quite nicely without paying attention to politics or the daily bummer of the news, but I can’t help smelling the privilege all over that idea. The implication that by and large, the things taking place in the world only marginally affect me.
In the end, I think the balance is trying to be engaged with what’s happening and leveraging whatever influence I might have… while also not letting it drag me down. In other words, to lighten up – in mind and emotion and disposition. After all, I think humans take themselves far too seriously for a bunch of bipeds who still measure how neat an invention is by comparing it to sliced bread.