I have been filled with a dark and foreboding anxiety lately. It’s even deeper and darker than the uneasiness and apprehension that has been with me for the past year as I watch the fabric of this country seem to unravel before my eyes. In recent weeks I get the sense that we are nearing a tipping point, that without some sort of dramatic change in our course forward we may find ourselves at a time and place from which there may be no recovery.
At least in a peaceful and orderly manner.
I know this sounds hyperbolic but I feel that even darker days may be ahead.
It’s easy to lose grip on our hope in these times, to feel our own humanity slip away only to be replaced by fear, anger and paranoia. That is something that seems evident by observing the growing division and incivility taking place in day to day life.
As bad as it seems, I am reminded of an entry posted here several years back soon after the death of historian and social activist Howard Zinn. It was about the need to behave as a real human in the darkest of times, if only to remind us of those better qualities that we are struggling to maintain. The world may be dark and darkening with each passing moment, but kindness and compassion have the power to create moments of light that defy the shadows that creep over us and to give us a renewed energy to go on.
It’s short–less than the blather I’ve written here to introduce it– but it is worth a moment to absorb it. The last paragraph is a gem.
***********
To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.
What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places — and there are so many — where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.
And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.
——Howard Zinn
************
I read this blog first thing in the morning. You always leave me with something to think about. I too am feeling anxious about the state of our world, not so much our country, as I’m Canadian, but not naive enough to see the incivility and inhumanity spilling over. I’m not sure that mankind is evolving as fast as he should, or maybe we will always be doomed to repeat history.
Tomorrow, write something uplifting, because today’s post was a little dark. Life is a series of dark, light and somewhere in between.
Again, thank you for your thoughts.
PS. One day I hope to actually visit a gallery to see your work in person.
Hi, Cathy– I promise, there will be something lighter tomorrow! Unfortunately, as an artist, part of my job is taking in the world around me, warts and all, and reacting to that input in an emotional form. I would like to be nothing but light and optimism but I don’t think I can ever fully turn my back to the realities of the world. But you can’t turn into the things you’re opposing. You have to remain a human and exercise the kindness and compassion that define you as such. Better things tomorrow!
I like his art, but he always says something that is so logical and right.
Lovely thought. The future does indeed look dark. We take comfort where we find it.