A Breath of Joy and Hope

Many of us are having a tough time. Perhaps you, too? And, maybe some of you are like me: My basic needs are met, my relationships are satisfying, my health is okay. But, often enough, I become consumed with concern for the future of our planet.

I’m one of those who takes scientific findings seriously—although my life may be easier if I didn’t. I find denial impossible and, as a consequence, the stern warning during September, 2019, from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was like a sucker punch. The IPCC alarm notice, in case you haven’t heard, was that without immediate, transformational action, catastrophe is very likely ahead for all life.

Meanwhile, it seems the human race is throttling the bus in our hurl toward calamity. To me, this means that, one way or another, perhaps within your lifetime and mine, memory of life-as-we-know-it—especially as it was before the COVID-19 pandemic—will become as wispy as a dream from which we’ve awakened.

I found two IPCC report takeaways especially disturbing: The first is that many perhaps turn-the-tide technologies are in their infancy. The second is that a changeover from fossil fuels to renewables by 2030 won’t be enough to stop the humans bus from barreling over the proverbial cliff toward barely habitable planet. My interpretation is that there needs to be a realization en mass that, yes, new atmospheric CO2 must be quickly drawn down but, also, current levels must be sequestered, recaptured primarily by means of a reinvention of agriculture and what we eat.

By itself, this warning was enough to cause my mood to spiral into despair. However, many times since, I’ve read other alarming reports, also written by groups of distinguished scientists. I’ve learned that pandemics, such as COVID-19, could become the norm rather than the exception due to human activity. I’ve learned that plastic debris in our oceans is perhaps a million times worse than previously estimated.

I’ve learned that freshwater and farmable soil are vanishing. I’ve learned that many of our favorite animals are headed for extinction. I’ve learned that oceans, having absorbed much of the overload of atmospheric CO2 to date, have therefore become more acidic. I’ve learned that acidification and warming seas are one-two punches to coral reefs, shellfish and the myriad creatures and ecosystems that depend directly on their vitality and abundance. Even without further climate disruption, perhaps much of the web of life—in and out of oceans—may be decimated in coming decades.

Going forward, any ideas on how to act, think and feel? How do we stay sane? For that matter, how do we even define sanity? Obviously and understandably, these are questions that have the potential to unite us or keep us divided. People seem as hunkered down in opinion and political camps as they have been to avoid COVID-19. There are extremes, in which some people fear the end of humans, others take stock in talk of an inconvenient hoax. It appears that yet others are choosing to assume the planet will merely shake off threats.

Along these lines, and opportune for those who are apt to mistrust science, there is presently an all-out assault on truth and sanity, a “referendum on reality.” And, no doubt, as I add my voice to the discussion, there are people scoffing, grumbling that mine is the war on truth. Although my hope is to be a beacon of hope and understanding, I realize I may be as lost as the brokers of fake news and the fear mongers.

That said, I perceive myself to be an optimist. From my perspective, sanity requires it. With optimism there’s a song in my heart despite our crazy times. The awe, hope and cheer of my optimism has urged me to try with this essay to make a positive difference by laying out ideas I find helpful in my own quest for soundness of mind. I don’t claim special dispensation; I am merely sharing my impressions.

Most people, I assume, have techniques of their own for maintaining good ballast and cheer. For many, staying sane and hopeful may be as simple as embracing adventure—wherever it is to be found. Add to that, fighting for justice, seeking only love, truth and virtue, and stopping often to ‘smell the roses,’ as they say. And yet, I may not be too far off-base in saying it remains easy to get bogged down.

Parenthetically speaking, occasional pessimism and fatalism may be appropriate responses, considering our present predicament. For me, though, and perhaps for you as well, neither of these attitudes is satisfying for long.

Beyond that, and adding even more complexity to this pursuit, being upbeat has many challenges:
• We must give crises their due consideration so as to be neither disease vectors in a pandemic nor weak strands in a possible lifeline.
• We are forever goaded to determine the “authentic underpinnings of hope.”
• And, we must regularly re-evaluate what’s sustainable while questioning again and again which of our enterprises have turned futile.

Determining the authentic underpinnings of hope is a phrase borrowed from the writings of Wendell Berry. He is among the environmental activists whose lives and words inform and inspire hope. Another of these inspirational guides is John Seed, founder and director of the Rainforest Information Center in Australia. Many forests around the world still stand today as a result of his tireless work.

Also, we owe John Seed gratitude for his stirring portrayal of our kinship with all that is. “We are the rocks dancing,” he has written. Notably, the rocks of prehistory—those that coalesced to form Earth—are of the same essence as we humans. An eternal drumbeat has now aroused a dance and we are this dance. For me, this portrayal is deeply satisfying; an underpinning of authentic joy and hope.

I find that another underpinning of hope is an emphasis on process—the flowering. When the lenses of our minds’ eyes are focused on process, it seems we detach and de-tangle from illusions of static objects and permanence. We can find joy in how the Universe’s countless processes are reflected in every being at every moment.

Adjust this lens slightly, and we may also notice how—as with viewing a hologram or fractal—the whole is found in the tiniest fragment. Adjust the dial once more and we are reminded that the mighty oak resides in an acorn.

It’s a choice we can make to imagine so, and one of our many related choices is to either imagine the human race as somehow separate—or higher-order—or as merely another of the universe’s myriad processes. From my perspective, when I see us as separate, it’s much easier to become stressed by the apparent human condition.

In contrast, when I perceive the human race as integral to and a microcosm of what goes on in the cosmos, this I believe is a source of authentic joy and hope. The human race becomes a realization, a bloom, a crescendo.

Consider this: At the height of a flower’s beauty there appear hints of immanent decay, signs of a change of seasons. Is it then natural to ask ourselves: To feel authentic hope and sanity, must we adjust our lens until the human race is not only the rocks dancing, but also an ephemeral flowering?

A change of seasons is not a cataclysm. With the wither of flowers at a season’s culmination comes seeds for renewal. Is there life separate from this cycle? It may be that we are privileged now to participate in the apex moment of a flowering. Do we need more than this realization to draw in a deep breath of joy and hope?

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