Monthly Archives: December 2019

Renewed Commitment for the Coming Year

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It is New Year’s Eve. In our culture we refresh and reset goals. Make new commitments. Try again. I’ve been paying close attention to the news about the Australian bush fires for the past several weeks, some of the worst ever due to extreme heat, changes in rainfall patterns, ocean currents, and extreme drought. The amount of scorched acres is staggering, and the damage to the Gondwana rainforests (an ecosystem that dates back to the dinosaurs) appalling. Today, on New Year’s Eve, I woke up to hear just a brief news mention that researchers estimate up to 500 million animals are dead.

The broadcaster went breezily on to another story, but I had to sit down with that in meditation – 500 million animals. Including 8,000 koalas, 1/3 of the New South Wales koala population. There is a koala hospital there that treated 72 badly burned koalas on Christmas Day. Much of their prime habitat is gone.

I have no words. But it feels important to bear witness to this continuing tragedy. Humanity has major lessons to learn about being good stewards of the earth. Apparently we stubbornly stand to learn the hard way. And sadly, the world’s species are paying a terrible, painful price.

I will keep the spirits of these animals lost, and the ones still living and fighting for their lives, in my mind and heart. I feel grateful for all the fire fighters and animal rescuers on the ground in Australia. I wish I could do more than this in this moment. Separateness is an illusion. We are the web of life. The web of life is us. Those animals were and are us. I will continue to make whatever difference I can to turn this dark tide in the coming year. Who’s with me?

Elder, Not Older

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Recently a friend emailed me that she noticed, the other evening while at a holiday gathering, that our friends are getting “long in the tooth.” This gave me pause with a not-so-wonderful feeling, as if I were an old nag about to be sent to the glue factory. At the same time, I have been listening to a number of different interviews with wise thinkers of our time on the topic of aging. I am only 56, but I like to consider what may be coming down the road in my life.

More and more, I strongly feel that we need to learn how to become “elders” as we age—not “olders.” As in how the elders of many indigenous tribes become wise leaders, seers, and guides.

The world needs us—all of us—desperately, right now. So we should resist falling into the box put around older people, and we should also resist the negative language that abounds about the experience of growing older. We should resist ageism.

As we age, we need to access our power as elders, and our beauty.

We have wisdom. We have big picture thinking and understanding. We have history and experience.

So, hear this: My “longer” teeth are for speaking, and biting into problems and chewing them up. Heh heh.

I will strive for good health for as long as possible. I will strive not to be doddering about, mindless and diminished, in calf-socks and orthotic sneakers, devoid of purpose and relegated to a TV. I won’t be marginalized.

I’ll wear beautiful dresses, glitter, ribbons and feathers in my hair. I’ll stand as tall as I am able. I’ll be fiercely kind. I’ll keep singing what matters. I’ll keep making a difference, no matter how small, for goodness, love, and a better world. I will become an elder.