Election's Coming Up

The election is upon us, and I’m trying not to get ahead of myself, or behind for that matter.  Not much we can do now but let the money do the talking.  I’ll make some phone calls, even make another contribution, but today it’s better just to stick to....the "now." And pray. I don't want to hear the pundits or see the polls.   

In that spirit I reprint an old blog from my Ukraine days.  I’m going through them all to find the pieces I wrote about and for my brother Loren. I’ve now got a bulging file, and re-reading them is, frankly, sad.  But Loren’s birthday is coming up.  And these “anniversaries” get to you. He would have been 65.  He might have considered moving up North.  I don’t know.  I know I miss him. I know he’s really retired. Wherever he is.  I know for whom he would vote, for whom the bell tolls.  If only he could vote.   

But let's get back to the NOW. "If onlys" don't matter, according to philosophers like Chopra and Tolle. The past is gone.  Tomorrow's not here. We only have today. What will be, will be.  I'll vote tomorrow, for sure, and let the people decide where America will go from there.   On the other hand, isn't voting a way to control our future?  

Thinking about the “Now,” again (2010)

The One for Whom You Create, by Mitch Ditkoff

Poets, lose your pens,

Painters, toss your brushes

in the sea,

Musicians, give your instruments

away,

then go for a long walk.

When you're done,

keep walking,

notice the beauty all around you.

Don't try to remember

a single thing,

breathe.

This holy moment is your poetry,

your art, your song.

Do not concern yourself with giving it form.

From Mitch Ditkoff’s Blog, Heart of the Matter

This is a nice poem, found by accident on a blog called “Heart of the Matter.”  Sounds like Deepak Chopra or Eckhart Tolle.  As usual I struggle with the concept.  I have some qualms about the message of this poem. I think this is taking the “NOW” to the extreme.  Sure we breathe and take in the moment.  We go for long walks and notice the beauty around us.  

But do we want to breathe in a world without poetry, music, art?  I have experienced  many “a holy moment” in reading the poetry of Mary Oliver, listening to Bach or the Beatles, admiring the paintings of Frieda Kahlo, Georgia O’Keefe, Picasso, the sculpture of David Smith.  I, for one, am glad that these artists and every artist on earth in all times and places have concerned themselves “with giving it form.” 

I might be off base here.  I’m open to suggestions.  I welcome your insights.  But now I will take a long walk, and breath in the moment.