Touching the Ground
I’m always searching for a bit of clarity about exactly why it is I’m here and what it is I’m “supposed” to be doing to help. Since finishing the doc, I have received little in the way of “marching ordersâ€, at least so’s I’ve noticed. (Or maybe I just don’t like my orders?) And while I’m gaining more clarity in my “real” life (on the ground - in my community) I remain less clear here in my “virtual†life. I can see how my connection to my neighbor helps us both. I have much more difficulty seeing how anything I do online helps. And I suspect that much of what transpires here actually makes things “worseâ€.
I was saying to Sally last night that I’ve noticed, lately, a new ability on my part. When I read some new article or essay about some clever new scheme, some boneheaded fix, some well-intentioned-but-doomed-to-fail policy, some sad, confused false hope, the anger, fear, frustration and despair that has for so long welled up in me dissipates very quickly now, replaced by a calm and even acceptance of how it is and, perhaps, how it must be. I shed the habitual disdain I wear as my armor and step into a more open, more unbounded manner of dress, a way of being that is at once more comfortable, more clear, more sane and, I believe, more powerful. I need not fret about the madness I see all around me, and the responses that look like they will only make things “worseâ€. This is simply what people have to go through, the path of initiation our culture is walking. We’re exhausting every false hope we have in order that we might hit bottom, where the real hope, the real possibility, resides. It’s what we have to do, I think. It’s the way through. It certainly has been for me.
So maybe “worse†isn’t even worse…
When I step into this space, I instantly find more clarity about my role here. We’re trying to hit bottom? I can help with that! I can interrupt false hopes and critique clever schemes with the best of them! If we’re headed for bottom I can help show the way! I’ve been there! Lots of times! And I’m heading there right now. Wanna join me?
So touching the ground isn’t just about reconnecting with the planet. And it isn’t only about finding some spiritual grounding. It’s about hitting the ground full force after a long, long fall. It’s about riding that flightless airplane Daniel Quinn spoke of with eyes wide open as we plummet to the Earth. It’s about embracing the splat.
Because it’s the splat that will re-arrange our minds.
Remember that old joke?
Q: What’s the last thing that goes through a mosquito’s mind when he hits your windshield?
A:Â His butt.
TTG