"The peace of wild things" (Wendell Berry) is found in letting things be what they are, and not incessantly willing things to be different than they are. Life protests its surrender to life, but it recognizes inevitability when it sees it and acquiesces to the circumstances without holding grudges, planning its revenge, or endlessly bemoaning its plight through resentment and depression over eons and ages. Rivers dry up. Species go extinct. Earthquakes and volcanoes remake landscapes. And nature works with what it has to work with to make the best of what's what and that's that. Nature takes everything in stride and keeps going. Dandelions grow through asphalt. Dogwoods bend themselves out of shape reaching for the light. Nature does what it is here to do any way it can. Nature's mantra is "Here we are, now what?" Life lives in the service of life as long as life lasts, with spirit, energy and vitality all the way along the way, looking for what can be done with what is left to work with, forever rising from the ashes with heart for the work yet to be done, anyway, nevertheless, even so.
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Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy 
Thank you for this positive encouragement.😊
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Dear Jim, No need to reply to this. I didn’t want to add the link below to the comments on your column. I realize this is way too much information. This is an example of the ADHD in action. I look forward to each of your daily emails and just want to thank you because your words help me try to navigate our current issues – I think I mentioned before that I have been diagnosed with ADHD and it is a constant deterrant to coping with politics I find interesting, but distressing – it’s hard to stay focused because I’m interested in so many issues of the day and try to follow them but get overwhelmed easily. . For more than 10 years I handled the political action reports to the FEC (1979 – 1990) for Occidentall Petroleum (OXYPAC), under the direction of my boss . At the time time I was stressed to the max and when I was laid off when Dr. Hammer died I began to rethink my political stance – I grew up with a Republican father who was totally involved in conspiracy theories and advocated the book “None Dare Call it Treason” about John Birch Society during the 1960s and even afterwards. I had been a Republican and worked for Oxy for almost 20 years (1972 – 1991). My boss was head of the Tax Department and signed Oxy’s tax returns for many many years. When he was promoted to VP Corporate Affairs he became the liaison to our Washington office for tax legislation. Within the context of this environment I was taught that Oxy utilized tax legislation and off shore corporations to avoid paying US Federal income taxes. My boss was proud of this fact. Most of my rethinking of my stance about politics came from “gut level” responses to things I observed during my time at Oxy. I had a “felt sense” that what was happening on the corporate level was wrong, wrong, wrong. My Dad was VP Economic Development for the Bank of Hawaii for many years. He made sure I was on the list to receive the Hillsdale College newsletter. My Dad and my boss were steeped in the advocacy for “Corporate” America first before anything else. Again, I had a “felt sense” – eventually – that there was something amiss with this kind of focused thinking and planning for legislation, etc. I was baptized and confirmed a Presbyterian. I remember at age three, when we lived in El Paso for a year, walking to church with my mother. Our family was always involved in weekly church attendance and other activites. My gut level feelings were informed by the the Sermon on the Mount, even as I began to join study circles to find other ways to think about religion. Every day I have a visceral* reaction to the news. I try to stay current with the news of today, but I balance it out (I hope!) with your columns. This column helped me try to put in perspective this particular depressing story (you may have seen it): Inside Trump ’25: A radical plan for Trump’s second term
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| | | | Inside Trump ’25: A radical plan for Trump’s second term
Jonathan Swan
Allies want to empower him to purge potentially thousands of civil servants. |
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*Definitions – VisceralDefinitions from Oxford Languages · Learn moreadjective – relating to the viscera.”the visceral nervous system” – relating to deep inward feelings rather than to the intellect.”the voters’ visceral fear of change”
Sandy Roggerosandraroggero@sbcglobal.net
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