Sparse and sporadic droplets falling from the Oak on a chill campervan morning. A waning moon twinkles between the branches casting garden shadows. The sky busy with twinkling navigation lights as passing planes cruise over ahead, indicate a clear sky and hence the chill, which is cooling coffee and myself this morning. The occasional early morning car, once more slushing through puddles. The ears in the darkness absorbing morning sounds, the increasing, but gentle pitter patter of rain on leaf, distant birdsong, cockerel cries, breathing in the cool fresh air. As the poet Stewart Stafford wrote of the morning ;
“ Open your eyes, breathe in the fresh dawn air and, with it, all the possibilities this new day may bring.”
I still find myself absorbed by every mornings unfolding, despite place, time, season or mood. Light quickly returning to the scene sees the morning shift its shape, the sounds change and more senses engaged. I also find myself troubled by the lack of humanity in the world, conflicts in the east, the total disregard for life and people emerging in ongoing enquiries ( Be it COVID, Grenfell, Hillsborough, Post Office workers or Tainted blood ) the horrendous rhetoric and hatred peddled by Poundland politicians in pursuit of personal gain, the country rife with poverty and destitution, injustice, food banks, spoiled water, failures in investment and the promotion and reward of greed. The clocks have gone back, not just an hour, but to the year 1823. Solnit wrote that ;
“ Despair is a kind of fatigue, a loss of faith, that can be overcome… resistance is the secret”.
And that resistance;
“ Is first of all a matter of principle and a way of life “.
I am fortunate to belong to communities and people who are trying to be the change, bringing people together, building community, exposing corruption and carrying hope with them. I almost have this bipolar existence, sitting with the troubles of humanity, but also holding onto hope. Something perhaps we all do. Rebecca Solnit writes of hope as a gift and that ;
“ Nothing is more dangerous… than that sense of citizenship, fearlessness, and communion with the world that is distinct from the blind polarisation driven by fear “.
It feels like an upward journey, but one worth travelling and for those that allow me to travel with them, I thank you. Interesting times ahead. A bit a a serious ramble this morning. Lovely days people.
“ First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win”. Gandhi.
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