(photo W Hayes)
I am back being my cheerful self after my heavy duty morning yesterday but there really seems no way to avoid processing current events. Well, ultimately it is healthy and needed but it takes an effort to get a grip on what is going on. But our own individual usually, thought of as solitary, lives are were the important battles (challenges) are. Those charts and graphs that we see are a reflection of our cumulative effort. We all have a part.
Dana yesterday expressed in an email how she thought that it would be more useful to have better language to deal with our current war (pandemic). I am grappling with that. I in my own world, with cancer ever present, see the shortfalls of the war language that is usually applied by predominantly outsiders. In a way it is accurate because it is one way to think about or look at the problem. It signifies a way. In my own case it seemed limited and not that useful.
Yesterday I heard one of the doctors say that the opposite of lockdown was not opening up but it is public health. He was referring to having an opening guided by a good testing program. Public health in this case being testing. OK, right.
Well, a beautiful morning here on the last day of the month of March. Walking for me, Felipé, from 0900-1000. Sayin lots of rosaries on my rounds on these solitary walks. Praying specifically for Catalina’s mother Bernadette and Farmer John’s mother Kay, both in their nineties. Then later I have a Zoom with Catalina. She is working on a book about Caminoheads blog, yay us!
yay us loves, Felipé.
I’m with you on the war language, Phil. I have searched for a better metaphor–I hate the obits that say,
She died after a “long battle” with cancer, or “a valiant fight.” You are a master at naming–and re-naming–things. Whadya have for us?
Funny to say, today I am working on Chapter 7, “Reframe the task at hand,” which kinda overlaps with Chapter 8, “See the humor in all things.” I like Karen from Cambridge’s phrase; she calls it “my cancer pilgrimage.”
Henriette ~ yea, the battle language is good to a point but going beyond that point is difficult. It hemmed me in very early on. But it is easy and universally understood. And that where I am with the virus conversation. I use the battle language because it is such a burden to communicate otherwise but it is probably inadequate. OK, we will work on it. I’ll get my people. Felipé.x
Good morning all!
I don’t really feel like I am able to communicate this idea in a comment, maybe I’ll expand upon this concept, that for me is a very basic foundation of well-being, in a future guest blog post. But here goes – I’m planting a seed to grow in your thoughts field…
There is a concept of ‘speaking things into existence,’ God is reported to have done it on the first page of the Bible we hold in our hands today. The most common one for many of us is a wedding vow, “”I, Ron, take thee, Ann, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold …” and so forth. I have years of experience of speaking things into existence. But here is my problem.
We use metaphors that are destructive. The ‘war on’ metaphor in particular. We have the War on Poverty, the War on Drugs, the War on COVID-19, etc.. Not to enrage any of you that were soldiers in wars, but wars haven’t worked long-term for all the history I have studied. Someone once said that wars plant the seeds of the next war. I think of the maturing garden planted by the crusades. We are still irritated by the thorns on those vines when we might enjoy gazing upon and smelling the roses on the same plants.
Anyway, I want to suggest that we bury the ‘war on’ or ‘battle’ metaphor and instead look at the situation as a JOURNEY – something all of us who have been blessed by the Camino can see is appropriate and strengthening rather than defeating. As in war, some do die on a journey, and some return physically changed or emotionally strengthened. In both war and journey we learn lessons not available in words, written or spoken.
So I leave it to you to think about the metaphors we use all the time without really thinking about what they might speak into existence for both the speaker and the hearers of the words. On your journey be on the lookout for the flowers blooming even on the weeds.
Ronaldo ~ thanks for expanding on this topic, it is a worthy one. Felipé.