I don’t suppose there’s a person who owns an iphone or computer who hasn’t heard of Hollywood stars, Amber Heard and Johnny Depp. The details of their toxic marriage and months-long mutual defamation trial has attracted more viewers than any other news story. In a way, I can understand it. In the wake of the bloody Ukraine War and tragic school shootings, we’re all looking for some comic relief. After awhile, bombings and shootings and domestic abuse begin to seem the stuff of normal life. But they’re not. Now is the time to get grounded, before we go crazy, wondering where we fit into this manic world.
You won’t find peace of mind by watching television news shows. We used to be news junkies, but now we find something else to do between six and seven in the evening. We know the war in Ukraine is veering toward World War III. That’s been made very clear for months on end. But there is really nothing that we can do to change the situation in a significant way. We can send money to help the refugees, and support our government’s effort to provide aid, but at our age, we can’t go galavanting off to volunteer with organizations like the Red Cross.
If you have ever lost a loved one to violence , there is only so much you can take when watching videos of school shootings. You know too well that empty, hollow feeling of having lost a a son, daughter, father, brother or mother to a senseless crime. . You wonder how much worse it will get for future generations.
Many people find peace of mind in nature. But hiking alone in the wilderness can sometimes bring on feelings of unreality. You can run away from sorrow, but you can’t escape it.
You can go to rock concerts and see pumped up musicians screaming their hearts out and jumping around on a stage. But when it’s over, it’s over. The next day you feel exhausted or hungover.
Strangely enough, I feel most calm when shopping at a farm and home store. The parking lot is full of pick up trucks. There’s an earthy smell when you walk in the door. Nobody is wearing designer clothes and you’ll seldom see a woman with false eyelashes. In our local Rural King, folks can even bring along their dogs. Their purchases are pretty down to earth. Fertilizer? Blue jeans? Car Batteries? Baby chicks? Welcome to the crowd.
At the checkout, you can observe what people are buying and imagine how they’re going to spend their time today—painting, planting, or working on their farm equipment. You’re with ordinary people who know there’s a war in Ukraine, and that schools are no longer safe. But they just keep moving on– growing food, planting flowers, raising animals, and hoping that better days are ahead.