Read one newspaper daily (the morning edition
is the best
for by evening you know that you at least
have lived through another day)
and let the disasters, the unbelievable
yet approved decisions,
soak in.
I don’t need to name the countries,
ours is among them.
What keeps us from falling down, our faces
to the ground; ashamed, ashamed?
— Mary Oliver, “The Morning Paper” in A Thousand Mornings
Notes:
- Sources: Poem: Thank you Whiskey River. Photography: Newthom
- Post inspired by Frank Bruni in A Culture of Sore Losers: “But there’s more at work. The refusal to grant victors legitimacy bundles together so much about America today: the coarseness of our discourse; the blind tribalism coloring our debates; the elevation of individualism far above common purpose; the ethos that everybody should and can feel like a winner on every day. Our system for electing presidents is indeed a mess. It estranges voters and is ripe for reform. I explored that last week. But pushing for change is different from rejecting any unwelcome outcome as the bastard fruit of a poisoned tree. If grievances are never retired, then progress has no chance. If everything is rigged, then all is fair, not just in love and war but on the banks of the Potomac, where we can look forward to four more years of inertia and ugliness.“
We should be ashamed, kept upright by our hubris…
Exactly. Right there.
I am routinely stunned by it – and I’ve been around long enough to know better…
We are so much better, but then again, apparently not.
In some ways I agree…in others? I honestly don’t know.
Oh, I get that.
😉have a good day, pal…
You too Mimi
Each day I am optimistic that we can make the changes necessary, if only by treating each other with love, kindness and compassion.
I need to execute as your level Peg. I do.
. . . inertia and ugliness. Indeed.
I am a fan of Frank Bruni. He always seems to express what’s on my mind as he did so perfectly in his Sore Loser article. Coffee in hand, I’m ready for the morning paper…
He’s genius.
Can’t. Not the papers. Not TV. Not the news feeds.
Nothing changes, really. Vast miasma of atrocity with sparkling drops of Rising Above.
I will continue to engage down here, where I am, with the next human being in my path. Nothing else matters.
Beautifully and truthfully stated Sandy.
Being out of the country has given me some much needed perspective on what’s going on in our country at the moment. And it ain’t pretty. Damn disheartening in fact. Keep hoping decency, good sense and reason will prevail. Still waiting….
Out of the country. Right. OK, give it up. Where?
Tortola…☺️
Nice!
It really is. I’m sitting here on the terrace, enjoying my coffee and watching the ‘morning commuters’ — a couple of sailboats and a catamaran gliding by on the waters below. Ahhh….
OMG, not envious at all. Not at all.
I think they do prevail…very quietly.
Still true
what keeps us going is our ongoing hope for humanity to win out
Yes, so true.
I know that
hope is the hardest
love we carry.
— Jane Hirshfield, from “Hope and Love,” The Lives of the Heart (Harper Perennial, 1997)
I know that
hope is the hardest
love we carry.
— Jane Hirshfield, from “Hope and Love,” The Lives of the Heart (Harper Perennial, 1997)
Wow, Oliver went there?
Love her even more now, for that, for going there. Thank you for going “there” by posting this.
This hits home, though, which home?, I’m not sure anymore!
Isn’t Thursday today?
I came for my “Lightly, child, lightly” fix!
Ha! You remembered “Lightly”! It wasn’t a Lightly kind of day….sorry.
I’m sorry it wasn’t.
Wow! Nice post.
Thank you Ravi!
Amazing post & you have an excellent website!!
https://jaycolby.com
Thank you Jay!