Editor’s Page

By Victoria A. Schmidt

compassion

 

I have found myself feeling quite sad and old lately.  How can that be when I live in “paradise?”

Here in Mexico, I see a sadness in some of my friends. They are cold, hungry, and looking for work. The pandemic is still in the way of nearly all they try to accomplish. While this time has been difficult for everyone, it has demanded a much higher price from many.

I’m very unhappy with the way the United States is acting. I find that Grandma comes to mind a lot. She was a woman who loved the world, always loved people, volunteered for charities, and everything I have good in me, she taught to me. 

She’d be disappointed in us all.

The familiar and wise directive “be here now” has been replaced by an unrelenting focus on the future. Like most, I yearn for the arrival of the “recovery” stage in COVID-19. While I miss my friends and family, still, I try my best to be the best person I can be. 

Another thing I want is for the US media to stop its obsessive coverage of everything political and to return to reporting actual news. Politics is only one of many topics which interest and affect us. The media has turned its job, keeping the public informed, into a 24/7 “reality show.”

Robert Fulghum wrote a wonderful book, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten: Uncommon Thoughts on Common Things. His simple, down-to-earth advice has become my recipe for good living.  

“Share everything.

Play fair.

Don’t hit people.

Put things back where you found them.

Clean up your own mess.

Don’t take things that aren’t yours.

Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.

Wash your hands before you eat.

Flush.

Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.

Live a balanced life—learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.

Take a nap every afternoon.

When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.

Be aware of wonder.”

I want to add, “Don’t judge.” I have to admit that this is an elusive goal which, like that exotic plant in my garden, requires extra attention daily. I want to be able to take people as they are; I don’t want to place blame. And I want our world to have peace.

We do not have to agree in order to get along.  We need to understand that there are at least two sides to every story. And we need to remember that the unkind have simply not yet learned to be kind. Patience serves us all.”

sI have been told that my biggest fault is that I am too idealistic. Maybe I am. But I love my world when it is filled with people who live with kindness and justice in their hearts.

 

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