Happy February morning to you, and a belated happy new year as well!
I’ve had a long break, done a lot of soul-searching, or soul-dredging more like, and made a decision to put confusion and despair behind me. Not because I am burying my head in the proverbial sand, but because I am most useful in my everyday life when I am positive, calm and clear.
Like many people, I am overwhelmed with the state of things. I care. I care so very much about things that matter and have been feeling overwhelmed at my helplessness. There is so much anger, fear and hate about right now. It’s like an epidemic. I do think it has the effect of a disease by infecting anyone who gets too close too often. And this disease is spreading everywhere. I can feel it when I’ve spent too long on a news site or social media. It’s like a car crash that you can’t look away from. I’m rubbernecking so as not to miss anything, and I get swept up in the mocking, nasty, to and fro of snark and condescension. So I’m stepping away from all of that for the most part. Focus on where I can make a difference and thinking about what that might be.
When I think about the people that have had the most influence on my life, it is those who are living in a way that I want to live. Those people who are wise, kind, gentle, creative, care about the natural world, are contented with their life but at the same time stretch themselves to grow and improve their own lives and the lives of others. People who compose a life on their own terms, whatever that may be. I do want to know the facts about important issues, but I’m rarely influenced by those who shout the loudest, retort the wittiest, or debate the smartest.
There is a quote by Socrates that I read years ago on the Internet (in the days before it became saturated with inspirational snippets), that has always stuck with me. It reads:
‘ The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new’
I think he was on to something. And although, of course, the world needs activists and people to speak out for what they believe in, I think that we especially need people who are focusing on building a better world in whatever small way they can. And it is doubly difficult because it does seem like a small and ordinary thing. There are no Nobel prizes for it. But to live the best life you can is an immense inspiration and incentive to others to do the same.
There are so many wonderful bloggers, writers, artists, film-makers, cooks, musicians and more… who have unknowingly encouraged me to lift myself out of depression and begin again, and again, and again. To persevere. There are too many to name, but I just wanted to say thank you to all the creative people of the Internet and wider world. I think you are building a new world within the one that is burning. At the very least, you are giving people like me hope… in goodness and in beauty, and that is what’s sorely needed at the moment. So Thank you. xx