Do Something Different
By Clay Hipp
A question asked with a smile, a country worth the asking
Stump Speaking, 1853, George Caleb Bingham—American,
All right, I am mad as hell, and I am not going to take it anymore!
No, that is not what I meant to say — so why did I? Frustration, I guess. I am ready to talk antidotes. Here, I think, is the problem. We are all so fed up with seeing the country falling apart, piece by piece, every day, that we let out our frustrations by peppering our conversations with anecdotal examples of what "those people" are doing to the country (on one side or the other).
Where is the middle ground, and how do we find it — or, better yet, CREATE it, or nurture what is already there? There is only one way. Treat all, every one, of our daily encounters as if they matter. Those around us are all that we truly have. We are the country and the world. Do you, do I, smile and make eye contact as we pass among our friends and neighbors and all those we pass judgment on so easily (either of little worth, or worse)? What gives us the right to accept or reject the other? If we only cared, and acted like it, we would let them know, somehow, that we acknowledge their existence.
Have you not been surprised, on occasion, that someone has the same wants and needs as you — just in a different context? The same hurts and desires and joyous moments? Maybe it just seems to be a waste of time, when we already "know" (or merely assume) their unworthiness.
What can we do? Simple. Tell yourself:
My goal today is, to the best of my ability, to make each person's day better than it would have been without this moment.
The larger goal: to stop thinking only of how bad this is and dwelling on the likely end result. Now, take charge of your, and our, destiny. The next election day must be our major concern. Our DUTY as citizens is not to "ask what our country can do for us, but what we can do for our country." First and foremost, do not even consider sitting it out in despair. Even if you are tired, or afraid, or under the weather, or disgusted with the whole thing — show up!! Take a friend (to make sure that they do show up). Vote early or by mail if you must, but on that day, please sit in wonder at what we have — and what we have to lose.
Sit on your front porch, or in front of the country store, wherever you find yourself, and ask everyone (with a smile), "Have you voted yet?" If they fail to respond, or show hostility, just pretend it did not happen.
From now until that day, never surrender your hope for yourself and others, and remember that there is still "goodness" in this world.
Never stop believing
There is goodness in the world
There is goodness in the world
There is goodness in the world
I see children marching
There is goodness in the world
I listen to them speaking
There is goodness in the world
When we finally do the right thing
—John Gorka
This next is my new theme song — the good, the bad (not the ugly). This November might just turn out to be a birthday celebration that went awry on the Fourth.
Words heard under the "Wisdom Tree":
Sometimes you just don't feel like tryin',
Too many politicians lyin',
Too many hungry babies cryin',
Too many random bullets flyin'.
This can't be our destination,
This could be a better nation,
Time to set the big horse racin',
We can change the situation.
Trains are leavin' from the station,
Need a brand new generation,
This could be a celebration now.
—David Mallett (one of my favorite, and wisest, songwriters, late from the state of Maine)
This SHOULD be a celebration of what we have been and can be again — and only we have the power to:
- MAKE IT SO-
(thank you for reminding me, Captain Picard).
Hope it was OK to write this and offer it to you. Sometimes things inside need to be released, if not actually let go, quite yet.