Sunday Musings – March 4, 2018
A new day – a new week – a new life
All morning I have been thinking about new possibilities. It would be easy to focus on concerns about the teachers strike in West Virginia, the potential backlash from the United States starting a trade war, the fierce storm visiting the Eastern part of the United States, the arguments over guns, or the many wars in various parts of the world. Here in West Virginia one could also focus on what is not happening such as large scale production and use of coal for fuel, steel and aluminum. Yet, in many parts of the state, there are individual and groups exploring lavender and other herbs as a significant farming products. Apparently in many places the West Virginia the soil is very good for such crops. Elsewhere, such as at Touchstone Lavatories in Ohio County, creative scientists are exploring the use of coal to make material to be used for a variety of products. I also read about a young man in college training to be a teacher who has hopes of becoming involved first in state politics and later in national politics, possibly becoming president. Young people are planning a huge demonstration and march in Washington, D.C. later this month. They are determined to make their voices hear. The future is, after all theirs to claim.
As I opened the email of Brain Pickings by Maria Popova I found the following quotes: “There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear, “ Toni Morrison exhorted in considering the artist’s task in troubled times. In our interior experience as individuals, as in the public forum of our shared experience as a culture, our courage lives in the same room as our fear – it is in troubled times, in despairing times, that we find out who we are and what we are capable of. This is what the great poet, essayist, feminist, and civil rights champion Audre Lorde (February 18, l934-November 17, 1992) explores with exquisite self-possession and might of character in a series of diary entries included in A Burst of Light: and other Essays (public library).”
Toni Morrison is a name with which I am very familiar. Audre Lorde I have never read but certainly now will. Neither of these women say anything that has not been said by many other courageous people – people who dared to hope and envision new possibilities. Yet, obviously we need to again hear these words – to be reminded to live by these words. We need to encourage the young people in their determination to take responsibility for their future. We need to support those exploring products such as lavender and other herbs which not only can support individuals, families and communities but which enhance the lives of people who use their products. We need to encourage new uses for resources such as coal while exploring safer ways to extract it. We need to vow to have discussions about the use of violence on all levels of society. We need to know, as we look towards spring that it is not only safe to hope for new possibilities, it is a moral imperative to give ourselves this gift.
Certainly we must not fall into the trap of becoming a Pollyanna, but neither must we fall into the trap of hand wringing. I am reminded of the little engine: “I think I can. I think I can. I know I can. (Watty Piper).
Written March 4, 2018
A new day – a new week – a new life
All morning I have been thinking about new possibilities. It would be easy to focus on concerns about the teachers strike in West Virginia, the potential backlash from the United States starting a trade war, the fierce storm visiting the Eastern part of the United States, the arguments over guns, or the many wars in various parts of the world. Here in West Virginia one could also focus on what is not happening such as large scale production and use of coal for fuel, steel and aluminum. Yet, in many parts of the state, there are individual and groups exploring lavender and other herbs as a significant farming products. Apparently in many places the West Virginia the soil is very good for such crops. Elsewhere, such as at Touchstone Lavatories in Ohio County, creative scientists are exploring the use of coal to make material to be used for a variety of products. I also read about a young man in college training to be a teacher who has hopes of becoming involved first in state politics and later in national politics, possibly becoming president. Young people are planning a huge demonstration and march in Washington, D.C. later this month. They are determined to make their voices hear. The future is, after all theirs to claim.
As I opened the email of Brain Pickings by Maria Popova I found the following quotes: “There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear, “ Toni Morrison exhorted in considering the artist’s task in troubled times. In our interior experience as individuals, as in the public forum of our shared experience as a culture, our courage lives in the same room as our fear – it is in troubled times, in despairing times, that we find out who we are and what we are capable of. This is what the great poet, essayist, feminist, and civil rights champion Audre Lorde (February 18, l934-November 17, 1992) explores with exquisite self-possession and might of character in a series of diary entries included in A Burst of Light: and other Essays (public library).”
Toni Morrison is a name with which I am very familiar. Audre Lorde I have never read but certainly now will. Neither of these women say anything that has not been said by many other courageous people – people who dared to hope and envision new possibilities. Yet, obviously we need to again hear these words – to be reminded to live by these words. We need to encourage the young people in their determination to take responsibility for their future. We need to support those exploring products such as lavender and other herbs which not only can support individuals, families and communities but which enhance the lives of people who use their products. We need to encourage new uses for resources such as coal while exploring safer ways to extract it. We need to vow to have discussions about the use of violence on all levels of society. We need to know, as we look towards spring that it is not only safe to hope for new possibilities, it is a moral imperative to give ourselves this gift.
Certainly we must not fall into the trap of becoming a Pollyanna, but neither must we fall into the trap of hand wringing. I am reminded of the little engine: “I think I can. I think I can. I know I can. (Watty Piper).
Written March 4, 2018
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