Creation and Carbon

Well, this is overdue...my intention was to post regularly, but alas the swift movement of days has kept me occupied...so much I could write about...so much I have learned and felt since January, and I am still striving to maintain balance and peace...for now, I will offer up a piece that I wrote a couple of weeks ago...love to all, beauty to all...

I was born of creation and carbon...
of flesh and of soil...
for everything we live becomes part of us,
and we of it...
when we touch things,
our identity and its building blocks flake off onto each surface and facade...
our breath is breathed back in by those surrounding...
as much as I don't want to admit it,
my energy and surrounding world are my responsibility...
see hands rise from untilled sodden land and
reach for the things that have been made tangible by creation and carbon...
fingers searching for the switch to illuminate the shade...

Cultivating Vertebrae

If you are unaware, there is a fantastic magazine in print called Ode...a publication dedicated to those who truly believe in the power of optimism and how it affects all entities of our lives...a recent issue began with the thoughts of a consistent contributor, Frances Moore Lappe, and I haven't been able to get her words out of my conscience since I read them:

"Like a lot of us, I keep asking myself, 'How did we get into this mess?' Since humans have innate needs and capacities for cooperation, empathy and fairness--which science now confirms--why does so much suffering and destruction continue? For many, the answer seems obvious: Humans just aren't good enough; we need to become better people; we need to overcome selfishness and evolve into more caring and cooperative creatures. I disagree. Since these positive qualities are hard-wired in virtually all of us, maybe what we really need more of is something else: backbone."

This resonated more loudly than it probably should have. A little about me: I am a good listener...I make myself available to people whenever they need me...I am HORRIBLE at standing up for things I truly believe to be good and worthy...this is not because I don't want to, but rather due to my vehement fear of confrontation...I know that not everyone shares my values and opinions, and I appreciate humanity for this...I would just rather not risk having a person scream their feelings in my face, covering me in angry saliva...does this mean, then, that I am doomed to live a life of complacency?

Not after reading Lappe's thoughts. Having a backbone does not have to be synonymous with being abrasive and outlandish...what if having a backbone simply means asserting my thoughts and values peacefully when the time arrives? Is it really that easy? I've recently felt this backbone start to develop, and I think I will be all the better for it...I am passionate about so many things, and it's time the world knows where I stand...if the weather's right...