I was going to start this essay yesterday, but the IPCC, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(UN) came out with its 2021 report stating (are you sitting down?) our planet is in trouble. I was eyeing the ledge until I realized that my planned essay themes, “contrast” and “resilience,” were still good, in fact what better scenario than the quickening demise of our climate in which to consider them? To be clear, the climate is not going away, it just won’t support humans anymore. It’s no longer all about us. It’s never been all about us, despite the tales we’ve been told.
Contrast; there’s a tough subject. It's not really a thing in itself, but the difference between two things. Yes contrast, and difference are nouns, but you can't stuff your pockets with them. Contrast hints at an opposite, like black as contrasting colour to white, night as contrasting time to day, someone excellent that is contrasting behaviour to my mother(oops). Contrast in your life gets you up into your cleats and nurtures growth. You'll notice that when things are rough, there is lots of contrast in your life. This is in contrast to the smooth of surrender and non-attachment. I don't know anyone who gets to the smooth without tending to the rough. Lots don't even try.
Gave your mom the Heimlich again last night? I noticed your quip.
Yes.
And she thanked you like she would thank a waiter?
Yes. And I wanted to scream, but I caught myself and recalibrated. This is a recurring effort for me lately. I want to be better at it, not need to recalibrate.
Well, you are human on this planet during a very difficult narrative. You are tired, and heartbroken?
More than that. In my worst self, I am sick of this ridiculous family tree and the crazy-making guilt that comes from a foundation of secrets, meanness, sciolism that makes me want to scream. And now the planet is in trouble…and how is it that green lawns are still a thing? Okay, that’s a lot of complaining and that’s not who I want to be. I’m not going to delete the words because it’s a perfect example of contrast. In addition you could consider complexes, splits where parts of your psyche are not coherent around a certain archetype. These situations sprout when you deny your shadow. That’s a bad idea! Balance, babeee! You need your darks and your lights, or you’ll be drab as hell.
How about resilience now! What ya gonna do now with the fires, and the floods, and the pandemic, and the hold-over garbage of jostling for position? Take the contrast, work with it so that you can sort it out and find how wonderful you are with all of the parts of your psyche that have come to the yard! Coherence babeeee! Resilience enables you to walk on the shards, among the wildly angry, the cloying, and still be loving. As I have learned the connection that’s going to ramp things up is between your deeper you and whatever it is that’s behind the veil. It's that feeling of the bigger thing that you want, the most important thing.
Hey, this just came to me! Do you know what the very important thing is?
What?
Life is all about the ability to experience AWE.
It’s almost that simple! That just might be it!