PONDERING OUR COMMON PLIGHT

My time in Rangeley was hushed.
Removed. No phone calls. No Internet signal.
Books and naps.
The recent US election receded with all of its profound negativity and anxiety.
I was in a healing mode, literally, for my body and spirit.
I was sleep walking.

Coming back my experience was tender.
I didn't come shockingly awake.
But I saw with less filtering and the world was different.

I saw:
--hysterics coming from all sides. 
--a gag rule in effect where people were afraid to speak their truth to one another if they weren't already in agreement
--a new seriousness in young adults about how the world works and that they actually do have to be active in its creation of a different way
--many people talking about compassion and empathy as desperately needed
--serious fright about being safe
--polarization as the the dominant dynamic at work in most situations
--sorrow
--a turning in to take care on one's own because that external world is nuts


I stay slightly subdued. Why? Because old forms are falling away. (Some sage said that.) New forms have not emerged. We need what is called the third way.
Opposites are not attracting. We need a new path to emerge in government, schools. religion, health care to name a few. We are without a common vision.
I trust it will emerge. In the meantime, we swim in the chaos  searching for 
that new way. All of us. We are in this together even if it doesn't seem so.