Weeds and Wonder
"The earth laughs in flowers." — Ralph Waldo Emerson
It's almost June, and flowers are breaking out all around, the wild ones from drainpipes, brick walls, cracks in the pavement, derelict sites, verges, roofs, rain gutters, roadsides, even pushing up through the tarmac. The phrase Take Back the Space comes to mind. I've always loved the fact that the toughest and most persistent of all plants are the weeds, the lowest of the low, the botanical equivalent of the social underclass. Never underestimate the power of the downtrodden!
We're all rather weed-like these days, we, the proletariat, all rather downtrodden, living out our lives of compliance to instructions for a purpose we don't fully comprehend, and perhaps even doubt. Well, that is to say, we have been, but we grow weary. Now is the spring of our discontent. Here in the UK within hours of the one senior government advisor breaking the lockdown rules the people emerged from their homes, seeking I suppose, one rule for all, declaring through action that, no, some are not more equal than others. And as the days elapsed so the swell of defiance grew, to the point where the local shopping streets look almost normal, rather like the street might look on any given Sunday. Take back the space.
Is this good, or bad? I don't know. I do know that it's divisive though. I stay off Facebook but Rayna tells me that there is a lot of anger in our neighbourhood group over this new laxity, people pointing fingers, blaming, insulting, and even reporting one another for apparent breach of lockdown rules. I hear similar stories from other sources. Neighbours fighting over the virtual garden wall, but now with the ability to whoop up collective indignation. We love taking sides, being in a group where we are right (and righteous) and the others are wrong (and wicked). But I wonder, is this othering natural or cultivated? A divided people is a people much more susceptible to government control, much more in need of imposed leadership, so if I were more cynical I may suggest the increased divisiveness is by design. After all, Brexit is over now, what else can we be divided on? Lockdown seems a good candidate. I'm not suggesting that, but I am also not discounting it. Meanwhile, I push on up through the hostile terrain to burst forth in moments of beauty for those who will allow their eyes to stray from the main, socially-distanced path for a moment or two.
It's almost June, and flowers are breaking out all around, from our hearts, from our mouths, for ourselves and for each other. Despite the confusion, mistrust and defiance, this is still a beautiful time, bringing out hidden resources of love, kindness and patience. But as with the weeds, the beauty is not always apparent. We need to look with different eyes, reconceive our paradigm, and release our souls to see the beauty within the societal cracks and fissures. It's there; it always has been; it always will be.
"And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy." — Max Ehrmann, Desiderata, 1927
Footnote: Two days after I wrote these thoughts the #ICantBreathe demonstrations exploded across the USA, a million weeds bursting forth through the concrete. Trampled souls crying out for justice. Take back the space. And two days on from that, as cities lay devastated, a different kind of flower arose. Motivated only by the love of their city, their community, hundreds of ordinary citizens emerged to clean up the mess, to repair, to restore. I was moved to tears. It is not governments and leaders who will restore this world. It is we, the people.
01 June 2020