Reflection on the current state of our country

I have many parts. I am a husband, a father, a grandfather, a friend, and an artist. I am also an immigrant, a writer, a musician, a soccer player, a bicyclist, a lover of jokes, and an occasional curmudgeon. Many smaller selves make up who I am. 

Then there is the “big self.” This part of me doesn’t do anything specific. Its job is to connect the experiences of others and make sense of events. It integrates. It is a shelter to return to, and a space for interactions. I think of my big self as my soul.

This big self’s task is to create knowledge that works for the entire community. With that knowledge, the smaller selves can shine. They also learn that their preoccupations are less important. 

To an inexperienced eye, the soul looks like nothing. It is a space, not an activity. It is a presence that creates belonging and meaning, a quality that seeks to integrate all human activities. 

The Taoist philosophy expresses it well: “To govern by doing nothing that goes against nature. The Tao never does anything, yet through it all things are done.”

For me, the soul announces itself in certain music, functional public spaces, ocean shores, mountains, forests, friends, laughter, a pattern of branches in a bush, waves and currents, clouds, stars, and family…. For you, it may be another list. However, I bet our lists share these qualities: they solicit reverence and love for things and people; they bring light into dark places and heal our discomforts and sufferings. They turn human differences into gifts. Souls are busy connecting the dots. 

I miss the workings of souls in our current president; the cabinet and his followers have no patience for inviting other ideas and points of view. They are not interested in connecting the dots. They do things that go against nature. They are sure that their ideas are the only right ones. They do not know how to ask questions. They have no sense of humor and seem unaware that under a slight change of fate, they might be someone else with different thoughts. They fixate on selected ideas and pretend they are the whole thing. A point of view becomes the point of view. They are possessed by self-righteousness. In the soulless state, the possessed reject information that they don’t like. The soul is always curious, but the little self is threatened. 

When the little selves get power, they outlaw and forbid other selves because they want to rule. 

The world is a complex, interconnected organism where business, the environment, education, health, land use, and the arts coexist. To promote one at the expense of others is counterproductive.  

We need the smaller selves to exist, but we need souls to make it all work. 

One way to rebel is to become a warrior for the ways we balance individual liberty and the common good – I call this ‘the commons’. By the commons, I mean all things that support our existence: nature—air, water, soil, plants, animals—and culture—skills, traditions, languages, art, craft, architecture, foods, rites of passage. Our current leaders seem unable to hold or express the qualities of the commons. 

Fight for a better balance between the smaller selves and the soul. Do not let the small parts take over. Consult with others who may see what you do not. Know that you are wise in some areas and blissfully ignorant in others. Fight for a world for all, not just for some. Fight for nature. Know that in a soulful world, power moves around. Therefore, step into leadership when needed and then step away to make the space available to others. Honor your soul by inviting it into your daily activities. Then, you will be able to recognize and laugh at your obsessions, something that our leaders seem unable to do. 

Please help make our country soulful again.