Unlike all of the haters on this website I’m actually thriving rn
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But seriously though: if I zoom in on my immediate circumstances, and this very moment, I’m fine. Great, even! My family is healthy, our material needs met, and we all find time to have fun.
But the big questions are:
Is it ok to be happy when bombs fall on children?
Is it good to enjoy life when the world is being made uninhabitable for people in the future?
My heart and brain never seem to agree on this. Infuriatingly, they continually switch positions!
@mycorrhiza Not merely is it OK, I think, but a vital act of resistance? As long as you don’t flaunt it directly in the face of the suffering.
Our wearing sackcloth and ashes frees nobody, lifts nobody, avenges nobody.
@adamgreenfield I hear you and part of me agrees! But my despair isn’t performative (no sackcloth or ashes necessary), it’s right there, ready to intrude on my thoughts. I hear fighter jets in the distance when I’m at a child’s school, and remember: “sometimes this exact type of airplane ‘accidentally’ drops bombs on schools that look just like this one.”
You can point out that having these thoughts is unhealthy for me and I wouldn’t disagree. But pretending that these things aren’t happening—and aren’t supported by some of the other parents around me—seems just as bad.
Something that I think we have in common is experience with a committed Zen practice. Thanks to the time I’ve spent sitting, I’m pretty good at recognizing these thoughts, acknowledging them, and letting them go. But they still take a toll on my heart. How could they not?
@mycorrhiza @adamgreenfield i deeply agree with both of you, and believe that both are possible at the same time. these feeling aren’t mutually exclusive, and in fact can make both more humane and healthy.
