Is it the world around us getting crazier, or is it simply the radio and tv people yelling louder? when you fall and break your bone when you are older, the world begins to slip away. If your house or business gets robbed, then fear comes and insecurity builds. If a bread you are baking comes out just right a smile comes to your face. That tree falling in the woods, those fires burning, the polluted waterways, the strife and anguish, they are real but are they ours?
In a meadow somewhere peace floods the windows with sunshine on a child waking up from a joyful dream. A bird outside sings the birdsong of tranquility to its chicks who are well-fed due to a recent rain that brought the worms to the surface. Rainbows fight for space in a paradise of spring rains and fall showers, a young boy learns to ride a bike, a perfectly cooked pie leaves the oven and a calmness and confidence envelopes those who find themselves in the valley.
On another hill smoke billows from recent fires. An impotent man fails to find his footing and slips again, making him unable to protect his family from criminals lurking outside. The ground is too hard to plant and the rains seem to always miss it anyways, leaving it cracked and vegetation constantly dying. There are no birdsongs. A single bike is leaning against one of the houses, the boy missing since early June, his parents unable to face the world since. Bleakness rules the day and the village people have little to rejoice.
From one valley to the other we wander. Our best days compared to our worst and our accomplishments based on whatever scorecard we wish to give us. The most wonderful and awful things happening our not all happening to us, empathy helps, but our own lives dictate the life and moments we collectively have. The sky is always falling but hope also is right around the corner to give us reason to move on. Each days darkest hours is determined by when it starts to get light again, our choice to move between the valleys is ours and even the toughest ground gives life.
