I’ve been increasingly depressed of late. I see my country–and much of the world–marching blithely toward authoritarianism; I see the world getting inexorably hotter. And though I will do what I can, I am powerless to stop either of those trends.
By my reading of history, authoritarianism, whether right or left, always creates untold misery, always tramples basic human rights, and rarely ends well. Examples are easy to come by: Stalin’s Russia, Pinochet’s Chile, Pol Pot’s Cambodia, Hitler’s Germany, Kim’s North Korea, Franco’s Spain. . .need I go on? In an authoritarian country, you seem to have basically three choices: Go along and sacrifice your integrity; withdraw from public life; or oppose it and risk mob violence, imprisonment, torture, disappearance. I don’t like any of those choices.
The ten hottest years on record going back to 1850 have been (in order of hottest to tenth hottest): 2023, 2016, 2020, 2019, 2017, 2015, 2022, 2018 & 2015 (tied), and 2014. Trees in the forests around me are dying of heat and drought. I must have been a Druid in a past life (just kidding, I don’t believe in past lives); I practically worship trees. I hate seeing them die like this.
IMO, all this is genuinely depressing. I have a history with depression, and I’m not eager to go there again. The other day, I asked myself, “What would it take to be chipper in these circumstances?” It’s a challenging question, because I don’t want to fiddle while Rome burns. Not my vibe. I figured Daoism would be woven into any answer I found.
Apparently, my unconscious got to work on the problem. I woke up in the middle of the night with these lines writing themselves:
In the midst of destruction, there is always creation
The creative force is in everything
I can be a part of creating the new
There will be a lot of pain
I can handle pain
There seems to be as much Hinduism as Daoism in these lines. I’ve never considered myself remotely Hindu.
Questions:
When has faith or spirituality helped you get through hard times?
If you’re not religious, when have core values or philosophy helped you get through hard times?
Is the creative force really in everything? Or merely in all life? Or is it external to us?