Every day I get new information on how my life is being impacted one way or another by outside forces. For example, we hear about our mail system and how it can't support mail-in voters for the upcoming election. I hear about the yearly devastating wildfires in California. Climate change is either real or not depending on what station you chose to watch on television. Schools are closed and our children have to learn from home and use technology to connect and work for 8 hrs. a day. On top of all this, we are all faced with a massive Pandemic with no current cure to help those currently infected.
As I look at the world I grew up in these past 53 years I can't help but wonder if I was asleep at the wheel or just happy enough to go along with what I was being told. Simultaneously, I also know that we as a country and a world have had a lot to deal with throughout our collective history. If you'd like proof, listen to Billy Joel's song, "We didn't start the fire". That song covered world events from 1949 until the year it was written, 1989. I think the song hits some major areas of contrast/conflict and growth. Billy's main refrain is, "I can't take it anymore".
Let's go with that for a minute. At some point, throughout our history, people stopped taking it and created something that they wanted for themselves and their children. I'll give you an example. After World War I ended on November 11th in 1918, a man named Rudolph Steiner created a system of living based on the horrible atrocities he saw develop during the war. He developed a concept of free will based on inner experiences, especially those that occur in the creative activity of independent thought. What a concept, independent thought. He was so successful in this new way of living that he and his co-creators developed an approach that taught this philosophy to the children of WWI.
He would go on to created the Steiner/Waldorf education system, which strives to develop pupils' intellectual, artistic, and practical skills in an integrated and holistic manner. The cultivation of pupils' imagination and creativity is a central focus.
Steiner's goal was to put the humanity back in our society. This is key to my thoughts on what is going on today. We all have an opportunity to go back to our basic beliefs and trust in all humans. We are the creative souls that came here to have fun and create the world we most want to live in.
I will continue to be aware of what is going on outside me but I will not forget my power and hold true to the fact that I can create the world that I want to live in. And it starts by remembering who I am and what I am capable of.
I wish the same for you.