I listen to NPR and I especially enjoy the music that they play on Thursday mornings, known as Throwback Thursdays.The music that came out of the late 1960’s and the early 1970’s was inspired by expanded consciousness. Some of those individuals of my generation sought to establish peace and served as a catalyst for many of the changes that we see in today’s world. Much progress has been made in the fight for womens’ rights and the rights of gays and lesbians. Questions were being asked about our food, which led to the formation of co-ops and health food stores. Some of us took up meditation and yoga and searched for meaning, of the life into which we had been born. We finally withdrew from the horrific Vietnam war in 1975. The luckier young men had escaped to Canada, while others returned from that war forever scarred. Slowly, this idealistic time began to fade for most. They put away their bellbottom jeans and their tie-dyed shirts, cut their hair, and donned formal attire. The new yuppies sold out to corporate America.
I listened, a few days ago, to a talk by Deepak Chopra. He confirmed what I have already surmised, which is that our forward progress has reversed. We are returning to the same lack of awareness to which I was born into. For every step forward, we take two steps back. From the moment that I open my eyes in the morning, I see so many things that break my heart; but I must make myself stop, before my mind runs amok in so much negative thinking. I stop and look more intently and begin giving thanks for what I see is right with the world. I begin my day in gratitude. As someone said recently, “I am grateful that I woke up in a bed this morning.” I am grateful for my morning cup of coffee. I am grateful for a roof over my head. I am grateful for…and the list continues to grow. I am grateful for my breath. My heart is still beating. It has not given up, so why should I?
Sometimes we have to eat our “nevers”. In the 1990’s I confirmed that I would never have a computer; however these very words are being written on what is now my third laptop. I loved my manual typewriter. I then grew to love the Selectric® typewriter that my mother handed down to me. A desktop computer was my next step. I was hooked. No more eraser ribbons or white-out for me. Delete and Copy and Paste soon became my best friends. But, just as I did way back in the 1970’s, I still travel the middle road. I have tried to embrace some of the progress that has been made in the past fifty years. Sometimes it is merely trading one evil for another. I may be saving trees, but how much of the earth’s natural resources did it take to make this computer and how much did purchasing it add to my carbon footprint? I think the important thing is to take time to consider every single action we take and to never take anything for granted; and when we need inspiration, we can listen to the music that changed the world.
