See entire August 15, 2012 newsletter including upcoming radio show guests
Here I go again defying all the “how to get the most opens with your newsletter title” rules. I am just not a good rule follower. Never have been, not much hope of becoming one any time soon.
So why am I blue? And what does it have to do with sustainability? Eco-friendly? Preservation of the Planet? To me, everything. And I am not afraid to share what’s going on inside of me as I write this.
First of all, I am blue because my grandchildren left today after a 12 day visit. They reminded me that the most important word in my vocabulary is family. They reminded me what giggling is. They reminded me how much fun having a pajama party on a Saturday – during the day – staying in pajamas, laughing and watching movies can be. (And yes – we did throw in a little bit of junk food – it was the movies after all!) They reminded me that there is magic in a yellow butterfly landing on your foot. They reminded me that a swimming pool is more than just for cooling off and that dunking, sneaking up on each other and playing monkey in the middle is fun. They reminded me to look at the world through their eyes and that when I do, all seems right with the world. They sustained my soul on steroids and as I write this the silence in our home is deafening. Mr. Green and I know we are blessed to have each other but in a perfect world, we would love for all of our children to live just a little bit closer. The good news is I never stay blue for long, the grandchildren shall all return and we will all be ready to make more soul sustaining memories.
Which leads me to why I am really blue. In a word? Politics. (Warning: this is a true rant) What has become of us? What has happened to civil disagreement? What has happened to the truth? Does the truth matter anymore to anyone in politics? What has happened to agreeing to disagree with respect for each other and for our differences? What do my precious grandchildren think when they look at commercials with our national leaders slamming each other? Literally name calling? How can their young minds be formed to think about intentional kindness? About respecting each other? What good are anti-bullying campaigns when so many of our newsmakers sound like bullies? How are we teaching them to talk about and through their differences? How are we helping them to imagine a world that works for everyone? Is it not our job to be role models anymore? What has happened to the greater good? Is there a way out? Is there a high road? Can the voices of those of us who really do agree to disagree raise them up and say enough already? Are we one nation, under God anymore? Do we really still believe in liberty and justice for ALL? What is sustainable about any of this? Does anyone in leadership remember we really do have a planet to preserve? And that if we don’t focus on that, our oceans will be the dead seas, the west will have burned, the crops will all dry up, the water wars will have begun and we will all be watching a PBS special about the last remaining polar bears.
Here’s to healthy civil discourse, to engaging in conversations instead of combat and to meeting on that field that Rumi describes as beyond the ideas of right doing and wrong doing. In order to sustain me, I have to believe that together we will remember that we are the land of the free and the home of the brave – not the bullies.