Connecting the dots

-

It is interesting to follow political and national leadership these days. A few stray thoughts from following the news lately: leaders do not operate in a vacuum but respond to a cultural phenomenon we are all part of. In one sense, I, too, hold on to it!  

 The Connection to Yesterday  


The connection to yesterday manifests in three ways. The most common is blaming the past—everything today is because of what happened yesterday. Even if they have been in power for a few years, the problem is not with what happened yesterday but the day before yesterday.  

 

Another way the past is viewed is through rejection. If their opposition was in power yesterday, they would reject everything from the past and undo it—or repackage the same things as if they were new and revolutionary.  

 

The third way they sometimes see the past is by glorifying the "good old days," which most people have forgotten. They create a mythical past to inspire people to dream of returning to past glory. Whether it is MAGA or MIGA, the approach is similar.  

 

But isn't this what I do, too? I attribute my behaviour today to generational trauma and past mistakes done to me. Yet, even as I reject those experiences (never forgetting them because they serve as my anchor for blame-shifting), I desire to live a life completely different today. And as I get older, I seem to glorify yesterday more and more—perhaps because today is too complex to make sense of.  

The Desire for Tomorrow  

 

The dreams they communicate for the future are often tied to what happened yesterday or the day before yesterday. MXGA is the familiar slogan—X can be anyone, nation, or community.  

 

"Make" is the keyword—I can make it. They destroyed it, but I can and will remake it for myself. I promise to do it for you if I am a national leader. Today is not "Great"; the day before was great. I will make it great "Again"! But, of course, I am not doing it for myself or my own interests—I am doing it for you and yours. A great dream to sell!  

 

Isn't this what I do, too? I hope that today's troubles will pass soon. My most common phrase is 'This Too Shall Pass' (TTSP). I dream of a day when all of today's challenges will end and fade away. 

 

Frozen in the past, like Elsa, wanting to let it go.



"The snow glows white on the mountain tonightNot a footprint to be seenA kingdom of isolationAnd it looks like I'm the queen
The wind is howling like this swirling storm insideCouldn't keep it in, heaven knows I triedDon't let them in; don't let them seeBe the good girl you always have to beConceal, don't feel, don't let them knowWell, now they know
Let it go, let it goCan't hold it back anymoreLet it go, let it goTurn away and slam the doorI don't care what they're going to sayLet the storm rage onThe cold never bothered me anyway..."

Or dreaming endlessly like Olaf, even though he will melt in the summer he dreams of!  


"Really? I'm guessing you don't have much experience with heatNope, but sometimes, I like to close my eyesAnd imagine what it'd be like when summer does come, huh
Bees'll buzz, kids'll blow dandelion fuzzAnd I'll be doing whatever snow does in summerA drink in my hand, my snow up against the burning sandProbably getting gorgeously tanned in summer
I'll finally see a summer breeze blow away a winter stormAnd find out what happens to solid water when it gets warmAnd I can't wait to see what my buddies all think of meJust imagine how much cooler I'll be in summer
The hot and the cold are both so intensePut 'em together, it just makes sense
Winter's a good time to stay in and cuddleBut put me in summer and I'll be a happy snowman
When life gets rough, I like to hold on to my dreamOf relaxing in the summer sun, just lettin' off steamOh, the sky will be blue, and you guys'll be there tooWhen I finally do what frozen things do in summer
I'm gonna tell him (don't you dare)"

Living in the Present  - but very few live in the present! 

 

This season has been filled with memorials of lives well-lived, remembering the lives of people we knew who recently passed away. One thing that stood out in all the conversations was how these people were able to connect the dots. They were grateful for the past (though they had every reason to complain about the past). They desired a future that would be different—not for themselves but for the world—yet lived entirely in the present, celebrating life.  

 

We saw pictures of grandmothers dancing, eating ice cream, and making others eat with them (even when their medical conditions didn't allow it—though I am not advocating for that!). But they celebrated life and embraced the present.  

 

They connected the dots well—they were grateful for what they had been given, desired something greater for the world, and made today worth living for everyone around them.  

 

I need to learn how to connect the dots better!  





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Broken hearted Christmas

-
Image
Christmas Eve was spent with a friend and family in the hospital, and late in the evening, we were crying, comforting, and grieving the loss of a loved one. On Christmas Day, what C.S. Lewis said in his book ‘A Grief Observed’ seemed real and true: “For the greater the love, the greater the grief, and the stronger the faith, the more savagely will Satan storm its fortress.”   2023 and 2022 were similar. In 2022, there was the loss of a baby in the womb of a close family friend and the loss of the mother of another friend. As I grow older, the memories of Christmas from yesteryears seem distant. Carols, cakes, celebrations, and gifts are still there but do not seem to make as much sense as they did then. Is it my ageing heart and overly sensitive soul, or is it a season given to us that we must endure and walk through?   But then, for many, Christmas is not about cakes and celebrations. Yesterday, on Christmas Eve, Ukraine was bombed again. People in Gaza, Sudan, Yemen, and Syr...
Read more

Three Learnings....

-
Image
This is the “report” of a recent faith-based health worker gathering—not the typical blog! I was compelled by what I witnessed over the last two days to write down three key observations and learnings.   The gathering brought together doctors, nurses, administrators, allied health professionals, data managers, priests, sisters, and laypeople, all engaged in listening to one another. While the structure of the system had its usual strong hierarchy, much like any healthcare system, what stood out to me was the absence of an "us vs. them" mentality. They were all there to learn from each other—nurses working alone in remote and challenging areas, administrators struggling with the sustainability of large institutions, and doctors stretched to their limits. It was a community of learning and growth!   When will I learn to live without an "us vs. them" mentality? In my mind, I often divide people into 'us' and 'them'—categories that seem justified by my o...
Read more

Humanity without boundaries, Love without Borders

-
Image
Visiting the “Genocide Museum” at Kigali was sobering. The pain the nation, communities, families, and individuals went through, and the millions murdered was beyond comprehension.   Seeing the museum, with all the pictures and videos of atrocities perpetuated by one community against their own brothers and sisters was disturbing and confusing. How can brothers and sisters kill their own?  But then this is true of many nations, including my own.  What encouraged us was – the national leaders had the vision to put the brokenness of their own nation, out there in the public as reminder for upcoming generations. Yes, the past is painful, but it must be openly communicated so that we can learn from our mistakes and not end up doing it again.  But then, many other nations too have created such memorials. Cambodia, Holocaust museums, Bosnia, and such others. Friends who have visited these locations told us, all these have something in common. These nations had the courage ...
Read more