Huge hugs to you. You. Can we have a group hug up in here?

From a Buddhist pov, working on our own well-being is the same thing as caring about others, and our world—for part of our well-being is caring about others. Sadly, we can’t close out or close down.

That said, there are so many care-ers. So many. We shall overcome, looking to our ancestors and lineage of caring activists.

So it’s one step at a time. And you’re not alone. You care, and that’s a strength, even if it doesn’t feel like it. 

I get sad for a full day if a barista gives me a plastic-lined paper coffee cup, when I asked for here. Same if I get cheese (cheese isn’t just cheese to a vegan, it’s climate crisis plus isolated then killed babies for veal plus caring bonded moms separated, killed in mid-age after a life of rape and torture) in my veganized burrito, after trying to order something vegan where there aren’t options.

I mostly hate driving in cars, though electric are far better. I abhor AC, much preferring nurturing shade-giving and water-keeping and insect-habitating trees and ground cover, opening the windows at night, closing in the morning, and closing curtains in the morning, and having a white metal roof with good insulation, and swamp coolers/heat pumps if need be, and so living cool in a hot summer.

I am in love with every moment I’m on a bike. I love saving worms, and saving water and creating a truly green home.

But, too, I recognize that macro politics and the very, very, very, very, very rich are causing far more harm, and can cause far more healing, than my daily life. But, too, I recognize that my daily life can inspire others, or help educate others, if they are curious (I don’t push it), and that all together millions and billions of us, grassroots from the bottom up, can and will be the only thing that forces change from the macro level and those very, very, very rich folks who don’t give a care.

When we feel the impacts, positive or more often negative, of our modern daily busy lives…we care. We care about the little things, a lot, and we care about the big things, a lot. We care. It’s simple, and it hurts. But as many wise people have observed, it’s this very capacity to feel, care, and hurt, that gives us our capacity for healing, for laughter, for joy, for love, for intimacy, for more laughter, for more joy, for more love.

It makes us fearless—instead of trying to avoid fear, we know that stress, as with muscles, is not necessarily bad. It can make us stronger. It’s no big deal. We can get through it.

And so it is that an open heart that feels, that hurts, is the only one that is brave, that can be truly fearless. You hear that, MAGA bros?

> Image/Quote via Greenpeace Canada.