You start off the day you are born and everything is preset with defaults. Then things begin to get interesting.
With every second that you are alive, you are on that big float trip down the river. You have a family whether your family is interacting with you (or not) throughout your life is full of variability depending on the timeline and lots of other factors.
There are boulders in the river of various sizes that must be navigated by you and sometimes with help from your family or your friends. Some boulders are very large and you might have to port around them for a period of time, then get back in when it seems like you can go with the flow again… Until the next set of boulders.
How you are equipped to float down the river to your inevitability depends on many factors. The human being is an interesting combination in design – designed to not be able to know itself. That would suggest that there is a creator or group of creators that have made this situation for reasons unknown to the human. As humans do, they try to figure themselves out regardless. They play games and are constantly involved in brinkmanship. Although there are humans that encourage working together to survive and thrive, the nature of humans is to want to be a part of a community but to be selfish and not share willingly. Sharing is learned and adaptive behavior. Humans quickly figure out that the float trip will end in disaster if they do not cooperate with other humans.
Navigating the boulders and coming all the way down the river is the goal. Yet, no human knows ahead of time where their final dock will be. As they get closer, some of them seem to feel that their dock is getting closer. No one knows why this is – no human that is…
Whether the creators of humans are “God” or several gods are beliefs held in organized faith philosophies humans call religion. They are at high levels similar but getting in the details they differ and diverge like branches on tree. Humans also are a family that has diverged significantly since when the first humans were present that nobody human has yet to 100% confirm. They keep finding remains of humans that are older than the last remains that were deemed “the oldest so far discovered”. That caveat always leaves the door open.
The key is to stay on the river and navigate through the boulders as well and long as we can, and enjoy the ride.
Although it appears that rocks don’t change, they actually do. That’s where they got it wrong. Rocks are constantly in a state of change, and depending on the type of rock, some are just being born – chemically, physically, seismically, but one fact remains – everything on this planet from it’s birth is still here and there will not be anything added (significant mass) until the planet vanishes. OK, so the occasional meteor or meteorite crashing into the planet might add a smidge of matter to Earth, it is just a smidge and kind of like when another vehicle rubs on your car and leaves some paint – except maybe a meteor crashing into the earth might have significant planet changing effects, which is a bit different than going for the buffing compound to remove the paint smudge from the red car that bumped your white car and left a smear of red.
So, I digress.
Change is constant. Some change is disturbing. Some change is happy. But nonetheless, change of any type shifts our attention, may seem to shift our personal axis, and may also make us change direction entirely. For every change there is some adjustment, no matter how tiny. This breaks, you fix it. You get a minor illness, you either wait and take temporary symptom relief medicine, or you go to the doctor and ask for something else based on the doctor’s exam. You get through whatever it is. If it is something major, then you have to make more major adjustments. Life goes on. Somehow.
This week, in the space of a week, I have been reminded of lots of changes and the ongoing changes that are taking place continuously. A guy fishing in the park apparently, silently fell over and passed away within a few minutes and some kids found him and called 911 and for hours afterward, we witnessed that police investigate thoroughly even though it appears no foul play was involved. Not just one officer, but several were on the case. Nobody knew what happened until the next day. The rumor mill was going nuts. Always amazing that people without information will engage in conjecture to fill a void.
One neighbor who prides herself for knowing everything walked by on her way to investigate. I told her she might not want to go that route, and she got all weird about that. “Why?”, she said. I told her that some kids found a guy who was unresponsive and the paramedics came and turns out he died. She said she already knew…wait for it…because her son is a doctor (she tells me this every time she sees me – for years)… even though he lives out of state, somehow her having a doctor son makes her an expert about everything. Sorry, I’m sounding catty, but truthfully, its unhelpful. She said she had to hurry to finish her walk before dark. I told her to have a nice walk. What else could I say?
I couldn’t help thinking about the guy who didn’t come home for supper. People fish in that area all the time. Some bring families with them. Some fish alone. Most are not from the neighborhood, and possibly not from nearby. It’s a good fishing spot as we have heard. But, when things like this happen it’s sort of a leveling that when it’s your time, it’s your time. One would hope that the guy was loving his fishing and passed away doing what he loved. What could be better except remaining alive to continue doing what you love. It makes everyone else take a pause, however.
I watch and family members are going through life changes. We go through life changes. Even though, day to day, sometimes it feels like it is the same as it ever was – but it isn’t. We definitely are reminded of changes when we witness major events that affect others, that is for sure.
The ongoing war in Europe, the massive earthquakes in Turkey and Syria and the surrounding region, the horrid weather in the South Pacific region, many many lives affected in major ways – suddenly, or perhaps not so suddenly – but this points up that something is happening, and we should pay closer attention to the details…
…Something happening here. What it is ain’t exactly clear. There’s a man with a gun over there, telling me I’ve got to beware. …Stop children, what’s that sound? Everybody look what’s going down…
So, it’s been building. That overwhelmed feeling that comes in around Thanksgiving and builds until after New Year’s Day.
Can I do what I need to do in time? What am I forgetting? Things cost too much. Can I make people happy or happier? What? When? How? Oh shit. Then the occasional panic attack, the deep breathing, the thought that at least I’m not trying to bake cookies for everyone (circa the 1970’s – 1980’s). Maybe I should host a cookie bake party. We could drink adult beverages and… Or then, that might be too much, too.
Then there were the days when I felt compelled to write Christmas greetings individually on each card that I sent. And I am verbose in my writing…so, this made me exhausted. I was going to night school, and really trying to be and do everything… I think. After work, I went to class. On the weekends, I studied. Then there was some amount of “free” time which seems ludicrous to me now. The expectation that I thought was there, might have been in my head. I don’t know.
And of course came hosting the holiday meals. I took this plunge one year, when I didn’t know I was expecting, but somehow the smell of collard greens cooking knocked me back! And I love collard greens! Yep, it wasn’t long before other things happened and I made an appointment at my doctor’s office, and you guessed it. A September baby was coming!
But, here I am forty and decades later plus a couple of years. No babies to expect (of my own). Only the drive to have a happy holiday with family, friends, and pray for Peace during these times of turmoil that seems to be everywhere.
The prayers are endless. Pray for the impact of the pandemic to lessen. Pray for a better economic situation for everyone in the world. Pray for those who are alone. Pray for those who are sick and in need of help. Pray for the homeless and those suffering difficulties due to mental health issues… And especially for the people in Ukraine who were needlessly and cruelly attacked.
In answer to the hysteria of the holidaze around here… I can do things to mitigate the stress. I
Just a little green thing
Then maybe, I could just go out and take a run or jump in the pool (yes, it’s still warm outside in December it’s been in the 80’s F for a couple of weeks…).
Welcome to climate change. A curse of humankind, but potentially it’s what happens in end times if someone in the distant past seeded this planet and set this in motion. It could be significant that there are multiple rule books that have been written – multiple versions that have a disparate appeal, depending…
Antiquities from the grands and great-grands
But, then, it’s the holidays. We should be having a good time.
So, why all this stress during the holidays? Lots of theories out there…
I get told that I shouldn’t decorate so much. But it does help me to remember happy times with people who aren’t here anymore. Yes, it makes me sad, but then it makes me think about how much love there was and how they were, when they were here. Some of the decorations are really old – antiques by now, seriously. I do treasure them, because I treasure the people whose these were. The historical significance of these is immeasurable.
Just born so many years ago
Going out to stores to shop is crazy these days. Anything from the angry men driving the two story trucks, to the impatient women all dressed up in hot fashion just to go to the grocery store…
It’s a statement. It requires an escalator to get into it. Behind me in traffic, honking, I think, “Gee, I hope they don’t shoot me!”
I just get in the mode of, WTF? Can you people just relax, already? Then, I say to myself, “look who’s talking…” Eye roll. Get a grip! I guess it just depends on the person and the stress that they suffer, and how they decide to manage it.
Me, I don’t think people should need to look intimidating. It just puts people off. I sometimes think I should experiment and say to the driver, if I got the chance, “Do you need a hug?” But, I don’t. I suppress my impulses to do something that could land me in a lot of trouble. People here are not very friendly. It’s a real mixed crowd. As long as the goats stay away from the cows, everything is fine for them, if you get my drift. Color outside the lines and they’ll be trouble.
So, as I go about my business, I will keep trying to enjoy the next two weeks as best as I can and remember my family and friends even if it is in the tiniest of ways and gestures – of kind words, and do my part in trying to take the pressure off. I definitely need to practice at this. Learn something new every day!
Leading up to the crescendo of Christmas and the Twelve Days thereof, what I always like to say at some point is:
Wishing You and Yours, Peace on Earth, and Goodwill towards Humankind!
