With all the bad news that's spewed forth on us every day... like the constant reminders that we are not safe, and the toxic partisanship that cripples our government and family relationships. It can feel like the civilized world is collapsing in around us.
Let me say first that since the dawn of humanity, we've been stealing, lying, murdering, etc... and that will not change. So I don't assume that if we just work hard enough, enact new legislation, or "pray" we will live in eternal peace. No, that's not the way the real world works. Just as we are wired for compassion and generosity, so too are we also wired for selfishness and all the other "unpleasantness" that comes with being human.
Despite this reality, I feel it is important for us to try to make this world a better place. We've been granted a precious, albeit fleeting, opportunity to experience life and to make an impact on those around us. I feel it is important for us to do something good with our lives, and that "good" can be an infinite variety of ways. We can always offer kindness and a smile no matter our abilities.
I can't help but notice that our society is suffering. I feel it when I'm listening in on conversations at the coffee shop. Recently, I overheard two women, probably in their 70s, chatting about how "bad" things are these days. One of them was noticeably anxious when discussing how she doesn't understand her TV and her cable bill. They went on for a bit talking about how much they pay for internet, streaming, and so on... Then they shifted to discussing their grandchildren. I got the sense neither of them saw their families very often.
Even though they had a lot to complain about, I felt happy that they were connecting and commiserating together. Coffee shops are great places to connect with others, even if you never say a word to anyone. Simply the act of looking at and observing other people can be so therapeutic.
We need the healing balm of connection and reattachment to nature. And when I say"nature", I mean anything outside our inner mental relationship.
Nature can be found in the work of an artist, a beautiful melody, or even in witnessing a person crying after a breakup. All of these experiences jolt us into connection with the physical world outside ourselves.
I love being alone, yet as a social organism, I also need a deep connection with other people. Humans can't live very long or very healthy as completely solitary beings. We need support. We need others to notice when we are depressed. And we often need to be taken care of.
But I also believe that we are missing another element in our lives, a daily necessity that was as much a part of life as eating or breathing. We need the brain-cleansing power of physical labor and sweat!
Cleaning, gardening, creating, building, working on things... all of these activities reconnect us to nature and the physical world. Our overstimulated minds are screaming for breathing space. Physical work will, I believe, help alleviate some of the tensions that we are facing. Yet as technology assumes more and more of our physical demands, we are further disconnected from our bodies and nature. From personal experience, I know that when I have too much idle time, my mind drifts to despair and existential dread.
Yet as I wrote earlier, we also need community. We need individuals who care about us and who can perceive changes in our mental state. When we have supportive people in our lives, whether that be family or friends, we are much less likely to "go off the deep end" so to speak. People will always suffer from personality disorders, paranoia, and mental illness, but at least in a more connected environment, it would be much harder for that person to plot and carry out a violent act.
Gardening is one important way for us to bond with our fellow humans. Of course, I'm biased, but I find so much joy in giving another person a plant that I've propagated and cared for. Sharing plants not only helps us, but it helps enrich our environments by increasing plant diversity. This is one of countless ways to build community and connection with others.
We can and do build community via social media outlets like Facebook, yet research says this form of connection, though satisfying and addictive, is vastly inferior to face-to-face physical-world connection. Think about how we feel when someone smiles at us, like a genuine smile that validates our existence. And imagine a world where we never witness young couples in head-over-heels love. Our brains are enriched by all our senses. When we don't stimulate these primordial systems, we don't fully realize our human potential for empathy and connection.
Simply stated, if we don't "practice" or "exercise" empathy and generosity, we will further sink into patterns of apathy and selfishness. America is facing an epidemic of fear like nothing I've felt in my adult life. When we exist in a constant and heightened state of fear, we are far more likely to hide from the world and never fully "experience" all the richness of this life.
I'm certainly not immune to fear. I fight it on a daily basis, but I do know that this world is just too amazing and dynamic to be constantly crippled by fear. I don't want to live like that. What is the joy and purpose in life if we can't trust anyone, or if we always see the worst in other people? That kind of thinking is toxic and makes us depressing to others. Yet, I commonly encounter people who approach life with fear.
Make an effort to connect with humanity and nature. In addition to my artistic and horticultural ambitions, my life's goal is to find beauty and goodness in all of this world.