One must always choose life and living, especially one with purpose to create a more just, compassionate, joyful and loving one. It is the world I long for and work for. Thank you for your thoughtful post.
Sarah, thank you for articulating so tactfully and thoughtfully how I’ve been feeling for a long time! I agree wholeheartedly that social media is contributing to and in many ways creating discord and disconnection, as well as eroding tolerance, goodwill, and generosity. I too see all the polarizing posts, each declaring their lines in the sand have been unjustly crossed, and I don’t respond because I fear my brief words can’t possibly covey enough to get through the wall of “us vs them” and unless I pledge allegiance then I’m labeled “them” “other” “not to be trusted”. May I share your essay with friends (real friends/in person, not on FB)? And how do we keep this conversation going? Where is there a forum for real people to engage more meaningfully? Happy New Year, and may this be the year where more people move away from social media and toward social experience/interaction. Thank you! Be well.
Hi Beth, so good to hear from you! I was worried about posting this, but then I remembered that the word I chose for 2024 is COURAGE. I'm so glad there words resonated with you. From private conversations I've had, I realize there are many of us who feel like we're trapped in this uncomfortable, emotionally devastating liminal space — and all because we are able to hold that many things can be true at the same time. For example, in some of the spaces I exist in, people are inflamed by the fact that others are using the word genocide. I felt that at first, but when I read that the UN warned that half the Gaza population is starving (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/01/world/middleeast/gaza-israel-hunger.html?mwgrp=a-dbar&smid=url-share) and then that the ultra right-wing Israeli Finance minister is calling for the definition of ethnic cleansing (https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-minister-repeats-call-palestinians-leave-gaza-2023-12-31/) I can't be silent, even if it upsets friends. But equally, I've felt devastated by people I considered friends responding to rape and murder with "Zionist Colonial Oppressor" and denying Israel's right to exist because they are incorrectly putting this in a "one size fits all" framework that assumes all Jews are white presenting Ashkenazi Jews, erasing the broad diversity of Jews worldwide because Jews of Ashkenazi descent are who they probably meet most in the US. I'm not sure what the best forum is for having these conversations - I'm trying to stick to longer form pieces because these are complex issues and social media is where complexity and nuance goes to die. I'm also trying to have conversations in private spaces.
One must always choose life and living, especially one with purpose to create a more just, compassionate, joyful and loving one. It is the world I long for and work for. Thank you for your thoughtful post.
We will work together to build that world, Rey!
Going out to the garden
this morning
to plant seeds
for my winter greens
-the strong, fiery mustard
& the milder
broadleaf turnip-
I saw a gecko
who
like the rest of us
has been
reeling
from the heat.
Geckos like heat
I know this
but the heat
these last few days
has been excessive
for us
& for them.
A spray of water
from the hose
touched its skin:
I thought it would
run away.
There are crevices
aplenty
to hide in:
the garden wall
is made of stones.
But no
not only
did the gecko
not run away
it appeared
to raise
its eyes
& head
looking for more.
I gave it.
Squirt after
squirt
of cooling
spray
from the green
garden hose.
Is it the end
of the world?
It seemed to ask.
This bliss,
is it Paradise?
I bathed it
until we were both
washed clean
of the troubles
of this world
at least for this moment:
this moment of pleasure
of gecko
joy
as I with so much happiness
played Goddess
to Gecko.
Write on, Sarah! The world needs you now more than ever
Sarah, thank you for articulating so tactfully and thoughtfully how I’ve been feeling for a long time! I agree wholeheartedly that social media is contributing to and in many ways creating discord and disconnection, as well as eroding tolerance, goodwill, and generosity. I too see all the polarizing posts, each declaring their lines in the sand have been unjustly crossed, and I don’t respond because I fear my brief words can’t possibly covey enough to get through the wall of “us vs them” and unless I pledge allegiance then I’m labeled “them” “other” “not to be trusted”. May I share your essay with friends (real friends/in person, not on FB)? And how do we keep this conversation going? Where is there a forum for real people to engage more meaningfully? Happy New Year, and may this be the year where more people move away from social media and toward social experience/interaction. Thank you! Be well.
Hi Beth, so good to hear from you! I was worried about posting this, but then I remembered that the word I chose for 2024 is COURAGE. I'm so glad there words resonated with you. From private conversations I've had, I realize there are many of us who feel like we're trapped in this uncomfortable, emotionally devastating liminal space — and all because we are able to hold that many things can be true at the same time. For example, in some of the spaces I exist in, people are inflamed by the fact that others are using the word genocide. I felt that at first, but when I read that the UN warned that half the Gaza population is starving (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/01/world/middleeast/gaza-israel-hunger.html?mwgrp=a-dbar&smid=url-share) and then that the ultra right-wing Israeli Finance minister is calling for the definition of ethnic cleansing (https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-minister-repeats-call-palestinians-leave-gaza-2023-12-31/) I can't be silent, even if it upsets friends. But equally, I've felt devastated by people I considered friends responding to rape and murder with "Zionist Colonial Oppressor" and denying Israel's right to exist because they are incorrectly putting this in a "one size fits all" framework that assumes all Jews are white presenting Ashkenazi Jews, erasing the broad diversity of Jews worldwide because Jews of Ashkenazi descent are who they probably meet most in the US. I'm not sure what the best forum is for having these conversations - I'm trying to stick to longer form pieces because these are complex issues and social media is where complexity and nuance goes to die. I'm also trying to have conversations in private spaces.