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There was a blog all ready to go out to you this past week- That will be saved for another day. It was about lessons learned from some mistakes I had been making.
Given what is going on in the world right now it just feels like there needs to be more said about life in general. The pandemic, and now the very heated social and civil unrest that is happening, is sometimes almost too much to bear. Thoughts go out to all of those who are struggling with the frustrations in just day to day life.
No excuses
There is absolutely no excuse for what is happening racially in our country. People are people, period. Color doesn’t matter- it should not play into anyone’s opinions of who and what that person may be. What that persons dreams might be.
Character matters
Character matters- who are you as a person- are you kind? are you thoughtful? are you compassionate? do you show empathy for injustices? can you hear what the others hopes and dreams might be? We can all learn from another persons perspective on any given situation or issue. There are many people I may disagree with but I am trying to listen and understand what they are feeling. It’s hard to know a persons history – what happened before can be why they are feeling the way they do now.
Some people in our country are hungry and scared and don’t really have what they need to make them feel safe. What can we, who have so much, do to help them feel more secure? I have made masks- donated to food banks- it’s not enough.
Who has the answers?
I don’t have the answers to these huge inequities right now. It seems that nobody does. One thing I know is that we should all be listening to the other side -listening to both points of view – and see how we can come to an understanding.
I have lived as a minority in a community- me a white person of privilege amongst people of color. Just after college I worked in a setting where myself and the manager were the only white people in the room. My now husband was finishing up his masters degree at Cornell. It was fine- me being a little white girl from Maine – living in upstate NY and never experiencing this before. My husband and I later moved to Corpus Christi Texas for his work- and found ourselves in a racially mixed community- us being the minority at that time. Still , we were OK and didn’t have to worry about getting pulled over for a traffic violation for example. White privilege – even there.
How can I really know?
I don’t pretend to know what it is like to be black or brown right now living in our country. I do know, that people can make things different if we choose to stand up for what is right. Life can be hard enough – why are the elite making it so much harder for some?
Times are similar to what the sixties were in the US
I do not remember the sixties-( I was a mere “tween” then) or was aware of the unrest that was happening all throughout the US. I have seen documentaries and liken what we are seeing this week, to those days. It makes my heart ache to be back where we were those many years ago.
Nature carries on despite us
I have noticed that nature just carries on- no matter what the crazy people are up to. The birds are singing and calling out at night. The flowers are beginning to bloom in our yard. The berries are starting and will soon ripen. The weather may be more extreme than we are used to , but nature is doing its best to keep up despite our efforts to make things worse.
The sweetest smelling lilacs
Poppy Bud
Lupine ready to bloom
Wild blueberries
During this pandemic scientists have seen the some signs of improvement since we have been at home. The skies and waters are clearing. What a wonderful thing! There may be some hope of reversing a bit of the damage we have done if we stay vigilant and don’t fall back into old habits.
Take a break and craft
“We are all in this together” – latest rug
If you need to ease your mind and take a break from the world- I suggest you do a craft. Rug hooking works for me and I feel privileged to be able to do just that. I have a home, I live in a beautiful spot with trees and water surrounding me. I have food security and my husband, the gardener, is busy planting vegetables for the future fall harvest. We have farmers living near by where we can get the other things that we don’t grow ourselves. Life is good that way here.
Maybe you feel the need, for at least a moment, to step back and craft. It may help ease your mind today. Turn off the news for a bit and settle in with yourself. Appreciate how much you have in this life- how fortunate you are to be able to live freely and make choices. Don’t forget to turn the news back on at some point – this is a pivotal point in our history – how we handle it will mark our future and that of our children.
I will speak up for inequities and stand up for people in need. But I will also take a bit of time to play with wool and make some designs that may speak to me today.
Wearing my mask while out and about – looking tired…
More soon about what I learned in the dye pot last week. Wear your mask while you are out in public and help protect others. It is something very tangible that you can do to help, at least with the pandemic-