I haven't posted in a while.....honestly I was really at a loss of words. I also didn't want to talk about the only thing that seems to be talked about lately. But here I am at 4am because 4am is the only time of the day that I have enough quiet to concentrate. Four o'clock in the morning because I, like many others have, had to adapt. I now have my seven year old all day who is active and busy enough to make writing difficult - but not impossible. I mostly feel bad that he desperately just wants to play with his friends. He is young and filled with positiveness; he has no idea of the chaos around him and takes no part in the crazy, unexplained habits and actions of the people around him. He has been raised by a mother who is comfortable and happy isolated with animals and close family to love and take care of. He is lucky to have been raised in the country where he can go outside with little worry as he is surrounded by acres of just nature. He has been lucky to enjoy the simple things life has to offer and only indulge in a few things like netflix and hockey videos on an old laptop. He hasn't had to learn to do without a lot of things the rest of the world is struggling to do without.......do you think maybe that is some of the problem?
I still have no words for what has actually caused this whole situation to start but I can't help but wonder.......regardless of what your beliefs are, we were given a world full of natural beauty. We started with a whole earth. Then somehow we as humans just kept wanting more and more until simple beauty was covered up and no longer important. It used to be that trips planned to get supplies were only planned once in a while. Most things were produced at their own modest homesteads and if they weren't produced there you would trade with your neighbor. I realize that most of us around now are too young to remember those actual days but I do know when I was younger we would only go to the store once a week and we would only buy what we needed. Now a days the average person leaves several days of the week for supplies, most purchase more than they will consume in months and have cupboards and pantrys full of supplies that they may eventually throw out before they consume. Stores compete by offering volume at a cheaper price encouraging you to buy more. Companies compete to offer longer lasting or better tasting sometimes adding chemicals and products no longer natural and maybe not as good for you. Clothing products become cheaper to buy than make and manufacturers are looking to find the fastest and cheapest way to get these products to the consumer that they find sources outside our homestead, outside our small towns, outside our cities........outside our country. A pair of pants is no longer a pair of pants. What used to be a product of necessity to protect from elements and perform a function is now a highly advertised article of acceptance. Models are used and celebrities are paid to encourage people to buy into the latest fads. We no longer wear these items out before we purchase more because the styles change long before, and being able to have the latest fad or newest style is directly related to our level of acceptance. We are no longer content with our hair colour, the length of our eye lashes, the colour of our skin, the size of our nose. Students become plastic surgeons instead of needed doctors because part of our society pays more to be perfect than healthy. We buy houses with more options and more space. We ad additions, not for more people, but for more of our things. When we run out of space we buy storage units. A washing machine is not just expected to clean the clothes with the touch of a button. - you can start a cycle with a button on your phone. You can now see the contents of you fridge from the store. I'm not even going to start about our phones. Our vehicles are bigger and faster, hold more fuel so we can go farther. They are also categorized on worth - level of importance and acceptance. Most have more than one. We have created a world with a constant need for faster, bigger, stronger, longer........more. Most don't give a second thought to what all of this has done or is doing to our earth. Not only are we so far away from our once self sufficient homesteads, towns, cities - we are struggling to be sufficient within our own countries.
Sadly we have also changed how we treat each other, how we accept each other. We judge one another for various things. Respect has changed, honesty is almost lost, loyalty has a price and fear is the master motivator. Those who don't fear have become arrogant. Ignoring authority has become a right. Instead of doing what is asked or expected we change the rules to suit ourselves , complaining about others but giving ourselves the exemption because what we want is more important than what others want. They have become privileged and ignorant to the needs of others. Some of us stand in the shadows of this and watch it unravel praying and hoping, or both, that we don't get caught in the fire.
The world has not lost its beauty; we have lost the ability to see it.
I realize my negativity so far and I do know that this absolutely does not apply to everyone but unfortunately I see our days ahead as an all in or all suffer type scenario. I do honestly believe that the world has not lost its beauty - we have just lost the ability to see it. We have lost the ability to appreciate the little thing in life.......Instead of seeing people and things for what they are - we are seeing them for what they are lacking. Right now the world is desperately trying to mend itself. It is trying to show us there is still beauty and life and wondrous things we don't have to create - it is already there for us to indulge in. My hope is we can all start to see it's beauty in it's simple form no more; no less. Spring is bringing with it new life. It promises warmer days. It is washing away a season of needed rest to allow growth and regrowth. It is promising us a new start and encouraging us to replenish what was depleted. It is trying to tell us that there is hope...listen for it in the sounds of the rain, the wind through the trees, the songs of the birds, the calls of the wild. Soon the flowers will grow and new babies will be born as nature will continue to do the amazing things it has always done.
Love those around you, take care of yourself and find some good in the days ahead.