That Auden poem has been one of my favorites since I first encountered it as a high school sophomore.
And I still smile at puppies and rainbows and sunsets and root for my teams. And I have friends with who I can and will rant and cry and laugh.
For what it is worth, as a child I hated being lied to and I hated being patronized because I was younger. Life is never all sunshine and lollipops and roses. If I did not understand all that was being said or shown, that was okay. And if I did, that was okay as well. We raised our son the same way and he grew to be a level headed, compassionate, and accomplished adult.
Thank you R' David. Personally, it's been a gradual background hum of dread. There have been so few islands of normalcy since 2016 which is coming up on ten years ago. Trump, Covid, 2020 Protests (not "bad" but not normal), 2020 election, attempted insurrection, maybe a year or two of semi-normal but still with fires and floods and Ukraine, Oct 7, post-Oct 7, Gaza, Trump again, now authoritarianism with no clear end in sight. So it's been 10 years of polycrisis in public, plus the expected highs and lows of human life.
Yes. For me, it's been coming out mostly in my writing, when I'm paying attention to my internal weather and giving it language--a counterbalance to the mostly-peachy day-to-day of my privilege bubble. I have this ongoing sense that we're on a long train that's crashed up ahead, and we're watching it happen, but the impact hasn't hit our car quite yet...
I struggle with the same things, the same thoughts. In my case often with respect to my 6-year-old grandson, with whom I am uncommonly close. He lived with me during the first 1 1/2 years of the pandemic, and I was his full-time daycare from 7:00 am till 6:00 pm, Monday thru Friday. When he learned to crawl, walk, talk, run, climb. That was gift.
The morning after the 2024 election he asked his mom (my daughter) if the "mean man" won. What to say, what to conceal, what emotional tools to arm him with?
The pure wonder of fireflies, indeed! Just last week that's what he shouted about when we stayed up late to gaze at the full moon and the brightest constellations through his new binoculars.
As I struggle to balance wonder & dread in my own mind, I can't stop thinking about the always curious 6-year-old I play with every week.
I love this - thanks Rick. Very similar. My partner and I also parented/full-time-daycared through the pandemic - my daughter was 2 when it began. Your post reminds me to upgrade my daughter's binoculars! Thanks.
That Auden poem has been one of my favorites since I first encountered it as a high school sophomore.
And I still smile at puppies and rainbows and sunsets and root for my teams. And I have friends with who I can and will rant and cry and laugh.
For what it is worth, as a child I hated being lied to and I hated being patronized because I was younger. Life is never all sunshine and lollipops and roses. If I did not understand all that was being said or shown, that was okay. And if I did, that was okay as well. We raised our son the same way and he grew to be a level headed, compassionate, and accomplished adult.
There is no one correct path.
Thank you for this. I've been feeling this same way and wondering when I got so morose.
Thank you R' David. Personally, it's been a gradual background hum of dread. There have been so few islands of normalcy since 2016 which is coming up on ten years ago. Trump, Covid, 2020 Protests (not "bad" but not normal), 2020 election, attempted insurrection, maybe a year or two of semi-normal but still with fires and floods and Ukraine, Oct 7, post-Oct 7, Gaza, Trump again, now authoritarianism with no clear end in sight. So it's been 10 years of polycrisis in public, plus the expected highs and lows of human life.
Yes. For me, it's been coming out mostly in my writing, when I'm paying attention to my internal weather and giving it language--a counterbalance to the mostly-peachy day-to-day of my privilege bubble. I have this ongoing sense that we're on a long train that's crashed up ahead, and we're watching it happen, but the impact hasn't hit our car quite yet...
This is apposite, I think: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/155525/michael-simms-the-summer-you-learned-to-swim
Wow that is beautiful and I hadn't known of it before. Apposite indeed. Thanks for sharing it.
Beautiful, Jay!
I struggle with the same things, the same thoughts. In my case often with respect to my 6-year-old grandson, with whom I am uncommonly close. He lived with me during the first 1 1/2 years of the pandemic, and I was his full-time daycare from 7:00 am till 6:00 pm, Monday thru Friday. When he learned to crawl, walk, talk, run, climb. That was gift.
The morning after the 2024 election he asked his mom (my daughter) if the "mean man" won. What to say, what to conceal, what emotional tools to arm him with?
The pure wonder of fireflies, indeed! Just last week that's what he shouted about when we stayed up late to gaze at the full moon and the brightest constellations through his new binoculars.
As I struggle to balance wonder & dread in my own mind, I can't stop thinking about the always curious 6-year-old I play with every week.
I love this - thanks Rick. Very similar. My partner and I also parented/full-time-daycared through the pandemic - my daughter was 2 when it began. Your post reminds me to upgrade my daughter's binoculars! Thanks.
Exactly.