Time and The Lions

A new day presents itself. This computer is telling me it’s nearly 10 a.m., and the light outside beckons. How shall I arrange the minutes? Time is not rigid or linear. It’s cyclical, circular, fluid. It’s a mere abstraction that we cling to like religion. Now blank appointment books and uncharted hours await our orchestration.

Last night I dreamed about mountain lions. Monte and I were standing on the deck at twilight, and there were two or three of them...beautiful and fierce. They were hunting, one of them had caught some kind of mammalian prey and was tearing it apart, feasting. Another of them looked up and roared. I tried to take a picture (consistent behavior, even in my dream) but fumbled with the camera, and couldn't capture anything.

The dream came back to me this morning, as I was walking around outside with my coffee, seeing how the lupines and poppies are growing, smelling blossoms and mud and fresh grass...and I thought, maybe the earth is reclaiming itself. Maybe this is the planet's great rebellion. Maybe we will finally shut up and pay attention.

I admit it: I'm feeling low, although I know it is way too soon to indulge in that. We have a long way to go, and the "leadership" could not possibly be worse. In fact, the despicable orange one thinks this is all about him. Nothing matters but his own riches and reelection prospects, and he and his cronies have been recklessly exacerbating problems and obstructing solutions every step of the way, while the idiots and deluded blindly follow.

But I still see opportunity here, even if I’m not sure how to proceed. We are becoming more fully whatever we were, and some of us have potential. We each carry our own private sorrows, burdens, and fears, and all of these are weighing on us, but in this we are alike, and that might help us to better understand each other. We also carry the seeds of kindness, the sparks of dreams, the light of stories. The big picture looms like an ominous shadow, and our fates are linked, and we begin to see that reason and compassion on the individual level will help the collective. May the goodness in each of us grow exponentially. The great paradox is that while we have never been more apart, we have never been more connected. Doesn’t it feel a little bit like love?

For now, I drift in a seamless state, encircled and circling, like a lion or its prey.