It's too f-ing much

The sky is pale with a yellowish tint and the air looks dirty. Inside, a faint odor of smoke is pervasive. But how bad is it? I crack the patio door, take a quick breath—it's awful. 

The west coast is burning. Firefighters and equipment are stretched thin and budgets are overshot. Throughout Oregon one in ten residents are facing evacuation. That's 500,000 people. Some will return to find their homes destroyed. I try to imagine what that feels like, returning with hope to find only desolation.

Our homes hold so much of us. Not just the daily tools needed for living, or even the family photos. Homes are sanctuaries and memory storehouses containing all the emotions and turmoil that life offers. To lose everything in one unexpected blow must be devastating. And then, while bearing unendurable grief and depleted energy, decisions must be made. Because life goes on.

Of course it's not just homes and towns being destroyed, it's our natural heritage, our fields, forests and campgrounds; 900,000 acres in Oregon in just a few days. This is a staggering loss and the burned acreage will be a dismal reminder for years. Too many places that held happy memories are gone and will never be the same. I loved and will mourn those trees and forests, but nature is resilient and tenacious. The trees will grow again.

Rain is expected on Monday, but for now most of the state will be huddling inside again. First Covid, now this. And let's not forget the hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes inflicting us, all linked to climate change. It feels like we're being yelled at. "Pay attention people! Get your act together!"

Clearly we are at a tipping point. And I haven't mentioned BLM, the election, and the daily torrent of lies, but all these elements, every facet of our lives, is being delivered to us on a platter—though shoved down our throats feels more accurate.

"This is too f-ing much," I tell the universe, but all I get back is what I already know. The signs are there and the signals have been given: it's time to rethink everything. 

We have forgotten how to be right and wrong at the same time. We could once accept that yes, my facts are right but my idea is wrong. Or, my idea is right but my facts are wrong. Once, we didn't all have to be right all the time. We could accept the gray areas, the vagaries, the misreadings or misunderstandings, without declaring our neighbor a baby killer. 

I believe we can do that now by making space in our thoughts and in our lives; allowing new ideas in and holding off the negativity and auto-reactions that our busy ego-minds will certainly shove forward. There's room enough for every idea and every being in our infinite universe. When we accept that, we change the world.