antihistamine
every morning with tall glass of water
when forgotten
eyes itch
gravelly voice
post nasal drip induced cough
a couple of days back
when kind nurse Shannon
read discharge instructions to my 84 year old father
one reason to call 911
was an impending sense of doom
my dad asked, What?
You know, like you feel the world is going to end, Shannon replied
I’d be willing to bet
there’s a pill to dull the feeling
Last night I watched the first two episodes of Connected on Netflix.
Water samples of the Thames River in London contain cocaine, meth, antibiotics, antidepressants, and…antihistamines.
What goes in, eventually comes out…
and touches the fish, deer, squirrels, and humans who come in contact with the value added H2O.
We’re all connected!
What I appreciated about the scientist discussing water quality was his positive final comment…something to the effect of… “Well it’s not that people should suffer, perhaps we can find better ways to treat the water.”
To my ears…this is a yes, and
Where can I be mindful of my choices…with an awareness that what I choose…stretches beyond what I’ll ever see.
When does "yes, and" kick in? Is it before we pollute and cause essentially "roadkill" or after we've we've finally awakened to the consequences of our choices? Could "better late than never be replaced with "better never than too late"? Someone said the other day that we've interpreted freedom as our collective choice to kill each other. Covid is a great example. What we are facing today was an almost inevitable consequence of the choices made prior to its spread. Either by design or by negligence the research or its byproducts were going to escape into the world. It was inevitable. We run around arguing masks or no masks in our collective trip to Abilene. Problem solving versus problem prevention... only becomes necessary in the post mortem of failure to be awake to the needed connections before people die..... not after. Yes, and, humanity can progress but not at the expense of one single solitary human life. Can we progress. yes, and being awake to the inevitable consequences of out choices? It goes back to "what choices will I make to today if I believed that my choices actually mattered and that I was choosing for all humanity"? Sorry, but got started and couldn't hold back. Thayer once said that one common human trait was "perversity". It has never seemed more appropriate than in these times.
Of course, "passing through" can go both ways. We may leave unintended consequences for others (or ourselves) to deal with and/or clean up. We can also allow learning to pass through us as well, not only about the environment, as we discover links between our actions and their consequences, but also our experiences and wisdom, in all facets of life as well. Hence the power of books, courses, and Netflix series like Connected. Just another form of "passing through".