The Good and Bad of Good and Bad

It took a moment to really grasp the concept, "the more you want, the less you'll have." I had to go back to a while ago...A LONG WHILE back, when I wondered how one of my great-grandmothers could stay in the area where she lived. The area was always a little rough, but had become even rougher as the years progressed. She was in her early 80's and still traveling on foot and public transportation. 

But if you talked with her, that woman was a vessel of wisdom...and good energy. She parceled off some of the best one-liners, life lessons from her experiences like parodied above. I remember her chuckle, after someone quipped 'absence makes the heart grow fonder...' "...and yeah, absence makes the heart grow further too."

That one-liner stayed with me. Of course, I learned a little later while producing our monthly family newsletter, the longer (not so happy) story behind that bit of wisdom. Short version; my great-great grandfather (her father) chased off the love of her life after he impregnated her at age 15.

At any rate, my great-grandmother’s generous energy and spirit was my inspiration to publish only good news in our newsletter. Some said this was unrealistic. "Nobody wants to hear, much less read, all good news!" Of course I understood the notion, like I also understood an uncle expressing, "so long as there is one without peace, there will never be peace."

Nevertheless, despite believing Earth is far more powerful than everybody-and-everything living on it (combined), and well-advised on natural laws having the perfect balance of motion all worked out, I stayed insistent Human Nature could use my help. Like, how could we better handle life; death… and inequalities… or poverty… and blanketly, the swell of discouraging reports pointing out how awful (in statistics) my family (primarily) were/are doing in life. This was where the ‘good news’ fell in, which looking back I couldn't help but see all kinds of ironies. 

In my mind, (nothing I expressed aloud…until perhaps now), I was trying to (so-to-speak) save the world. This wasn’t obvious to me, (why I never expressed this out loud), but it seemed obvious to others. I was just so caught up in finding a ‘calculated’ balance to singing Kumbaya (for lack of better phrasing) …on key and at the same time. Except, every time I thought I had the right mix for a particular issue, I was presented with a situation that had me back at the drawing board. Gave me a whole new renewed respect for those in leadership positions! 

There’s a phrase on Facebook posts that often gets circulated, that applies here. “When you know better, do better.” I also like a sentiment a great-aunt told me when I asked if there was any advice she had to pass along to our younger generation (meaning me). She looked at me and said, “no,” before explaining in so many words how everyday she tried to do better than the day before. In other words, ‘do your best'… and ‘you live and you learn.’

What a humbling message, as sobering as looking back and remembering how our little monthly newsletter hummed along for five straight years, educating… entertaining… and enlightening us all. 

Just read 'Rabbit' by Patricia Williams (thoughts here).

#Writing #StillWriting #WritingLessons #WritingLife #Storytelling #Newsletters #JustBlogged