It’s time now to tune out the angry noise and tune in to your inner wisdom.  You know your life is pretty good right now.  You don’t hate your nutty neighbors.  You’re doing all right in spite of a pinch in the price of gas or chicken nuggets.  Your kids go to a pretty good public school. You trust your fellow citizens who check you in at your local polling place.  You’re grateful to vote.  In short, you know you’re not living in a “sh*thole” country–that is, a country where gangs rampage and armies rule.

Take a deep breath. Take a walk in the nearest green space.  Take time out from any screen or newspaper that screams bad news 24/7.  Find a place where you can look up and see the stars. You could even drop into a church that teaches Love Thy Neighbor–no exceptions. And does it.

I’m in favor of staying informed about current events.  I try to be educated in the context of history and committed to principles of ethics.  These days, however, the ratio of noise to information is exhausting. So I turn to poetry, every day, and to the writings of teachers and philosophers whose enduring thoughts aim at the highest possibilities of the human spirit.  I also embrace humor.  Without a sense of humor, the soul withers.

It’s June.  Make this a summer of joy for yourself.  No one can stop you. Here’s a suggestion from a poem of mine written a long time ago.  May you enjoy such a privilege.

The State of Absolute Nap

Its conditions are rare. You must be free
of all desires but one: to sleep. You must be alone,
completely isolated from the compelling hum
of traffic or tv. There must be no phone,
unfinished book, or business left undone,
no guilt about neglecting anyone,
and nowhere to go too soon.
Let there be rain on a long afternoon
in the deep woods, at the end
of a long path, where no one will come,
after the last word with a listening friend.

Published in Plains Poetry Journal and in my collection Road Trip

Here are two more suggestions for a dollop of humor anytime:

https://www.lightenup-online.co.uk/index.php/issue-66-june-2024

lightpoetrymagazine.com

*from The Waking by Theodore Roethke.  Please look it up!