tIt is so hard to hang onto hope of stopping or changing the headlong rush to destruction this country seems to be on. Sometimes it’s just too much to bear, and the energy to keep trying to drains away. Especially for those of us who have already spent a large part of our lifetimes on the front lines in full battle gear.
That’s where I was about 72 hours ago, lower than a frogs belly. Today, I am on my feet, rolling full steam ahead, feeling like I just had some really good speed! (ok, so I’m dating myself ) Here’s how this happened.
I got next to greatness, and spent hours in its presence.
I mean authentic greatness, in the form of two inner city youth workers I was interviewing for a writing assignment.
I mean the kind of greatness that comes from the inside of people like that who know who they are, what they are here for, and will not be deterred from getting on with it, face to face, kid by kid, on the streets, in their homes, in their schools, in spite of the odds against inner city, mostly minority kids. Kids caught in lives full of misery that is not about to end any time soon. Kids who, without help, are already headed down thedark road.
I mean the kind of greatness and power and passion that can leave you breathless in their presence, once they are given the chance to talk about their kids. I mean the kind who gives all the credit to the kids, and bats away any offered to them like it was pesky fly in the room
That’s the hit of speed I found, that literally yanked my sorry sad self out of the dungeon into full sunshine.
That kind of greatness. The kind that is replicated all over this land, quietly, without publicity of any kind, by millions of American who actually live the REAL American Dream; the one that doesn’t have a damned thing to DO with the accumulation of money, goods or power over anyone else. The kind of people who have no time for political process work, because there are lives in their hands that need saving NOW.
Just like all the others who quietly care for the sick, the disabled, the mentally ill, the elderly,the for bad pay in terrible working conditions and corporate servitude. Greatness within the hearts of all Americans who daily carry on under immense burdens of all kinds, no matter what.
Greatness. Immeasurable courage, in living breathing human forms with skin of all colors, all over this land. Greatness that can never be destroyed no matter what happens to corrupt governments.
And that is what I need to keep going. I cannot afford to only focus on the negative realities, I MUST surround myself with authentic greatness too: in the form of authentic Americans who are the living reality and spirit of the country I know exists, and that I can love.
I highly recommend getting next to authentic greatness like this as often as possible, when your tanks need refilling. It is literally amazing what it can do to reenergize a sad and heavy heart, and I know that keeping my own heart strong has to come first, or I am of no good use to anyone or any cause.
