it’s pretty tiring.
i look at this photograph – of the manmade jetty, a breakwater out by the harbor channel heading east into the lake. the black boulders, the white boulders – both granite, i suppose – built up to somewhat protect the channel from the potential intensity of the lake.
these giant rocks, their color, their purpose – they bring two randomly different things to mind – both of which i have written about.
first, the quote: a ship in the harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.(john a. shedd)
second, the song: the ink is black, the page is white – a child is black, a child is white, the whole world looks upon the sight…a beautiful sight….(david arkin/earl robinson)
and right now? right now both make me tired.
ships – and people – and countries – weren’t built to be insular, to pull up the sidewalks, turn off the lights, lock the doors. instead, they were meant to go out, to explore, to break bread with others, to protect one another from dangerous energy or rogue waves, to raise up the infinite number of ways that we are all interdependent, to love one another.
children weren’t born insular, holding each other at bay, pointing fingers and spewing hateful rhetoric. instead, they were born with the ability to love in their hearts, learning to recognize how important interaction with others is – regardless of any physical or social or ANY differences – acknowledging we are all spokes in a big giant wheel living on this mother earth, we are all worthy and can – and should – work together to stay safe from any kind of harm. inherent goodness. any other messages – messages of disdain and cruelty – children are – devastatingly – taught these.
i’m not sure how many times i have written – ranted – about such things.
and while we are on the subject of ranting about really offensive – evil – stuff, i’m not even sure how many times i have been vocal – totally appalled – about those freakish people who find the current administration’s twisted vileness charming or entertaining or the least bit acceptable.
it all makes me really, really tired.
the breakwater – positioned close to the lighthouse – is there to help protect the harbor channel, to ensure safe passage.
it is not to keep people in or to keep people out.
what kind of pitiful world needs that kind of limits? what kind of world needs finger-pointing bigotry, limits on the freedoms promised in the constitution, an insularity based on extreme racism and ethnocentrism? what kind of world needs hatred as a guiding light?
“some days, you’re just tired from needing to be stronger than you feel.” (unknown)
*****
read DAVID’s thoughts this FLAWED WEDNESDAY
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