How I don't blow my brains out

I get depressed about the state of the world, no doubt. That some people don't have water and some people don't have food and the Antarctic ice shelf is about to break off (thanks, Dad, for the link). Plus, my kind readers email me just about every piece of bad news the internet can muster (I'm not asking you to stop, by the way, I appreciate it).

But a bunch of years ago I went to a course at the Esalen Institute with some guru or another. The one thing I remember from the course is that we must always remember to keep ourselves from getting overwhelmed by looking for the good in the bad and the bad in the good. The guru used an example of seeing the beautiful rainbows of color reflected in an oil slick.

So when I think of catastrophes, I try to think about all the wonderful people who are trying, against all odds, to help. When I wonder where God is in the horrible mess, I try to think that he/she/it resides in their hearts.

I'm thinking of all this right now, because I just got an email from Alex Steffan, editor of the wonderful book and website WorldChanging. He sent me a post he'd written about the politics of optimism (I wrote a not dissimilar post about how optimism is the most radical political act there is a while back, too).

Alex's article is full of hope and idealism and blind faith in the human spirit all wrapped up in a thin veneer of sophisticated writing and political understanding. But mostly it is a call to all of us to have more vision and more imagination about how extraordinary we could be.

Though I don't know Alex except by email, judging by the volume of work he produces, he works his butt off to help inspire us and change our minds. So tonight, I am combating the despair by thinking of the God in Alex Steffan's heart and looking at him as today's little bit of good in the bad, today's rainbow in the oil slick.

PS That's Alex in the picture. I like his eyes, don't you?

PPS For fun, some other rainbows: Annie Leonard, Michael Reynolds, Alexie Torres-Fleming, Rachel Kessel, Sharon Astyk.

Comments

[Bev]

I read your post first thing this morning and then followed my frequent routine of seeing the headlines on the NPR home page. Since your post is about watching for things to be hopeful about I thought you would enjoy this story about banning plastic bags. I'm sure others have probably already sent this link, but I'll send it too, just in case you haven't seen it. It was a delightful story. Here is the link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89135360

[Anne]

I'm a big fan of your blog, thanks for doing this! What you say reminds me of a recent radio interview I heard of David Suzuki and one of his daughters. They were talking about how overwhelming the bad news is and how you keep working for change in the face of it. Suzuki said that the old wisdom was "Think globally, act locally" but now maybe it should be "Think locally, act locally." Don't get overwhelmed by the dismal "big picture", act for and keep your eyes on local successes. They add up.

[Leila Abu-Saba]

I started my Middle East peace blog, Dove's Eye View, over four years ago as an antidote to the bad news. My mission was to remind self and the world that peace always exists inside the most tumultuous of storms.

However this lesson has been supremely difficult for me.

Last September I was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer - spread to organs and bone. I knew then and have struggled since with the knowledge that reading about all the bad stuff in the world fuels this appearance of illness.

To transmute the above statement - to save my own life I have to focus on the love and the order and the charity that surrounds me. Think love and act love. If I can only find love locally then that's where I'll look.

Thank you, Colin, for your work...

[Kristy]

I like the thought of looking for the good in the bad. A great example is something Jon Stewart said to Rolling Stone magazine:
"...Nineteen people knocked down two buildings and killed thousands of people. Hundreds of people ran into those buildings to save them. I'll take those odds every f*cking day."
If we can find the positives, even in the horrible things, we can be optimistic.

[Alecia]

Thank you so much for posting this today, I really needed a dose of optimism after all the doom and gloom that I have been reading!

[Diane Gandee Sorbi]

Leila,
Thank you for your post. It reminded me to focus on all the things that are positive in my life. I will be wishing for your healing and recovery.

[Labrat]

Clinical depression is not easy to live with, so I don't think you qualify, Colin...you are much too productive of a person and you are surrounded by caring people who would seek treatment for you.

That said, people do blow their brains out over situations which seem hopeless, and the environmental crisis does seem large and hopeless at times.

But it really is the little things that give people hope; a smile, a pat on the back, a few kind words, or just seeing someone else do something good for a change, and then acknowledging them for it.

Yes, I like this man's eyes; he looks like he would accept me right where I'm at in life. And that's big...really big, considering how scared people are in the world right now.

And when you write about positive changes, Colin, you give me hope. Please don't stop.

[Junctional Complex]

Ironically, what helps me most in those hopeless moments are the things that are supposedly at stake: trees, blue sky, birds and insects...(I saw a pair of Robins today!) They embody the optimism we are talking about here. They remind me how really incredibly beautiful our world still is.

[Rebecca]

Thanks for the post today and yesterday as well. Congrats to your wife too.
Your post reminds me of the struggle that Rachael Carson had to go thru to get her book Silent Spring published and in getting DDT banned from the US.

[Kristen]

I always remind myself that I can't fix all the problems in the world, and so I shouldn't spend an inordinate amount of time and energy worrying about stuff I can't fix. I should focus on what I CAN do and what I CAN fix, and leave it there.

[Joy]

Love it! Thanks for this very important post. I'm trying to look for the good rather than the bad in the world and this was a great reinforcement.

[brooklyn]

Thank you, Colin, for the inspiration you bring to me living here in Tennessee. There is so much change that needs to happen in the South and it can be very disheartening sometimes. Thank you!

[Joe]

You are likely depressed about the world because your expectations for human behavior is not aligned with reality. As for God, that's a personal belief system which by my measure, is fraught with too much emotion when it comes to trying to understand the why of it all.

That said, I recommend lowering your expectations but not your hope that homo sapiens will do the right thing over time. We are slow learners, and consistently unremember history as a teacher. Hence, three steps forward, two steps back.

I'll suggest your blog is helping us step forward, so rejoice in that notion.