Sunday, March 20, 2011

FIRST DAY OF SPRING

Today is the first day of spring. To many of us, it can't have come too soon. I live in a relatively temperate area of Washington State. But, I haven't failed to notice how bad some areas of this country (and the world) were hit this year. For those, I imagine Spring can't have sprung too soon!

Spring is a time of renewal and rebirth. We naturally want this to happen not just in Nature but in our lives as well. We wish that while the world outside and the weather warms up and life returns outside our windows, that maybe, just maybe, the people and governments and society could be reborn too. However, the problem this is rarely just up to us.

So much of our life is out of our hands. All we can really do is try and live our lives in a way that reflects spring. But - in a way life is being reborn to many people have been going through a political spring of their own. The Tunisians - the Egyptians - the Libyans - and maybe even the Yemenis and the Saudis - are struggling to get out of their political coccoons. We can only hope that a beautiful butterfly will emerge. But, it is their springtime and they must suffer on their own.

I live in a very stable - or is it stagnant? - community. So many of these troubles happen in other places. The demonstrations in Wisconsin - the uprising of students in the UK over funding cuts - the large tea party demonstrations - happened in other areas. But, it doesn't stop me from being moved - proud, frustrated, admiring and disgusted by their activities. But I do have the internet. It brings so many of these things closer to me.

I have discovered that I am quite the news junkie - and that I love downloading podcasts to listen to on my walks. I cannot imagine what would happen if I was back to what news was like - say 20 years ago - with just one local-yokel newspaper and some very iffy local television.