Maybe it’s always been so (Charles Dickens is forever chiming in my ear about the best and worst of times…), but this is the only lifetime I’m certain of, and it sure can feel like a world gone mad.
I’ve been in a fairly non-stop “create” mode for a while now. Years, really. It could be a defense mechanism, a “distraction” from the evils of the world. From the seemingly endless, seemingly requisite wars (will we ever stop killing each other?), from energy drinks (hello????… urghhhhh), drugs that fix one problem and cause another (possibly even death), and biased news reporting that offers up panic, fear and division. From leaders who decide who can eat what and when they can eat it.
From a world where we can live vicariously through adventurous “reality shows” and where something as utterly tactless as Jersey Shore becomes a number one tv show (gag me NOW).
There’s more texting and less talking. Entire world views and life events get summed up in 25 characters or less. And forget politics ~ behind the mask of virtual communication, there exists a culture of some of the most righteous, adolescent, hateful language I’ve ever seen, even from people who are otherwise good souls. Hear it, repeat it, blame it, get riled up, feel good about yourself. What?
Then there are the freakishly large storms, ice knocking out the east coast last October, this October, hurricane Sandy shredding NJ and NY. Tsunami’s, earthquakes, fires, devastation, heartbreak, momentary reflections of what matters most.
But there are also amazing people, incredible stories of human love and courage, and ordinary people who choose to uplift over putting down. We have hearts, minds and spirits that, I believe ~ despite what often seems an unraveling of what is right and decent ~ are for the most part inherently good.
And when you put all this together – the best of times, the worst of times ~ I often come up with the simple view that it really is just madness. You can’t truly take it all in without feeling chaos, without feeling torn apart. Ordinarily a fairly balanced individual, I do get incensed. My blood does boil, I cry out for the senselessness of so much going on in the world, the helplessness many feel, the charged, misdirected emotions and the sense that our chains are being yanked.
Then again, maybe it’s all an illusion.
Chaos, madness or illusion, I’ve discovered that a pretty good option for avoiding lunacy is to live under a rock. I used to joke about this, but maybe I’m not kidding after all. I like it there. It’s a pleasant, pleasing place of my own making. I can create to my heart’s content, and have all kinds of wishful thinkings that it might make a positive difference “out there”.
I suppose, since I’m not going to join a fanatical mob of any sort, that it’s my way of fighting evil. Small potatoes really, but it beats getting sucked into the fray. And if what I do might bring one smile, or hit one nerve of warmth and hope ~ even fleetingly ~ I figure it’s not wasted.
I could go ahead and decide it’s all for naught. Pointless. But as an eternal optimist, I’ll figure that it’s worthwhile. Or else go mad.
