Simple and Urgent
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Look, America is awful and the world is too hot and the truth of the matter is we’re all up against the clock. It makes everything simple and urgent: there’s only time to turn toward what you truly love. —J. Sullivan
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what I truly love–key word in that sentence being TRULY. There are a lot of things that masquerade as love these days, I think: from being comfortable (in all the ways) to getting everything done (in a timely manner) to the way technology seems to make most things easier (especially navigation). Which is not to say that being comfortable, getting stuff done, and using GPS are bad–they aren’t. We need comfort regularly, productivity feels good and allows good things to happen in the world, and technology is pretty useful much of the time.
Where I’ve gotten stuck before is when I’m letting the pull of comfort keep me from doing the things that I know will benefit me or the larger collective if I just do them–even if it’s hard or uncomfortable. I’ve gotten stuck inside a to-do list, the kind of stuck where you start trying to do all the things simultaneously so nothing gets done well. I’ve gotten stuck scrolling when it would have been enough to look up my destination, turn onto the right road, and keep my head out of the digital cloud by continuing to look up at the real ones.
What feels urgent often isn’t. What seems too simple to matter can be urgent.
I’m reminded (again…I also share this quote in my next book) of what Anne Herbert wrote, in an essay titled “Handy Tips on How to Behave at the Death of the World:”
Falling in love is appropriate for now, to love all these things which are about to leave. The rocks are watching, and the squirrels and the stars and the tired people in the street. If you love them, let them know, with grace and non-invasive extravagance. Care about the beings you care about in gorgeous and surprising ways. Color outside the lines. Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty. This is your last chance.
In Collisions of Earth and Sky, at the beginning of the chapter that introduces you to Anne’s work and mulls over her essay, I ask the question, “What do you need to give your energy to in order to fully love?” which isn’t exactly an easy one to answer. Doing so requires continual self-inquiry and reflection, along with a healthy dose of self compassion for the times when you find your energy straying far afield.
Raise your hand if your energy has ever strayed far from where you’d like it to be.
*everyone raises hands.
**writer of newsletter admits energy straying far afield DURING the writing of this piece.
***fortunately, therein lies the opportunity to being attention back to what matters.
onward.
Later in the chapter, we dig into this some more:
Ask yourself this: What has my life belonged to? Jot down your answers. Be honest. Some of the things that have gotten pieces of your life won’t make you feel good. That’s okay. Some of them you’ll need to take responsibility for at some point. Some of them are not your fault. Just note them.
The next question is: What do I want to give my life to? Write down your answers again. Be honest. There is no right or wrong; there are just the things that are calling you into doing something different.
The chapter ends with “Let love guide the way. Carve out that path with a (lovingly wielded) machete if you must. Douse the flames, the ones that are consuming you in ways that don’t feel good, and lay a new spark in the hearth of your heart. Allow active love to transform your life for good.”
Be reminded of what’s yours to [truly] love. For me, that is going to mean more reflection on what the best balance of comfort and healthy striving looks like, doing one thing at a time more often than not (wish me luck there..), and investing in a good paper altas, continually making a point to look up when screens try to pull me in (got to keep those map reading skills sharp, even in the era of GPS).
*Poem included in Slouching Toward Radiance, which is available now.