It's A New Day

so turn off the news and live it

Photo by Isaiah-Phillips Akintola on Unsplash

When I’m making the bed, I open the blinds down to let the morning sun fill the room. Later, when I’m in the ensuite doing my hair, blinded by the sun, I’ll close them temporarily but for the moment I pause to look at the frosty roofs of our neighbour’s houses and notice the contrast to the sunshine and blue sky.

My attention is drawn up and up as formation after formation of returning geese crosses the sky. We watched them leave in the fall and now they return like old friends—bringing the promise of warmer days and new beginnings.

I have been absorbed (teetering on obsessed, I’ll own it) on projects in my woman cave lately. The other day, I pulled out my watercolour paints for a reset, returning to a place more balanced where I can touch on this, then that, leaving space for nothing other than come what may.

I live a quiet life, by choice and design; the noise, mostly that which I allow or conjure in my mind. This morning, I was listening to a woman I follow on YouTube whose words echoed much of what I know to be true in terms of living an intentional, quiet life and eschewing the lure of “the next BIG thing.” I may have mentioned her here before. Her name is Adaline, and she lives alone on Vancouver Island in a tiny house on wheels. Here’s the link to what I watched this morning; she starts talking about what I’m referring to at about the 18:34 minute mark if you care to listen.

Here’s a link to another kindred soul on YouTube. Her channel is very new. She has returned to her homeland in England after living in the U.S. for 35 years and is cultivating a quiet, intentional life in a cozy 400 square foot cottage. I watched her latest video this morning and felt calm come into my space.

Meanwhile, the world is still the world. It’s still run by self-important buffoons (not all, but a lot) and every day there’s something else reported evoking anger and fear and Chicken Little type thinking. Turn it off, my friends. There’s very little you can control or change, or do much of anything about. The influence you have is right in front of you with the people who share your life and those you come into contact with while going about your day-to-day business.

I’m seeing this in a fresh light as I continue to dig into my genealogical research. I’ve uncovered a significant set of my ancestors who were United Empire Loyalists. (In case you, like me, didn’t pay enough attention in high school, the U.E. Loyalists were individuals who were already settled in the 13 colonies when the American Revolution broke out, who remained loyal to the British crown, and eventually settled in what is now Canada.) Their path was a harsh one as they faced persecution and exile. In 1789, an honorific title was given to these Loyalists by Lord Dorchester, the governor of Quebec and general of the Canadas saying:

Those Loyalists who have adhered to the Unity of the Empire, and joined the Royal Standard before the Treaty of Separation in the year 1783, and all their Children and their Descendants by either sex, are to be distinguished by the following Capitals, affixed to their names: UE or U.E. Alluding to their great principle The Unity of the Empire.

My ancestors faced hardship the kind of which I can’t begin to fathom. So too, with my Mennonite ancestors on the other side. Allowing myself to get caught in a vortex of indignation and offense and fear is an insult to them.

There’s nothing new under the sun. There has always been conflict, and people have made choices based on their convictions and were persecuted for making them. Families were torn apart then, and they still are. We must remain strong in what we believe in, without losing sight of the ones standing right in front of us who bleed the same blood, whose hearts and minds are just as tender as our own, and who are as infinitely loved by our Creator as we are.

Everything is not an emergency. News reports are designed to raise our angst so we keep reading or watching or listening. There’s a mental health crisis among our young people (all people, really) and it’s imperative that we step off the anxiety inducing treadmill and return to grounded reality.

Oops. I didn’t set off to climb up on a soapbox yet here I find myself. (*climbing off it now*)

Today is April the 6th. It’s spring. It’s time to get growing (or it will be soon enough). Me, I’m going to watch birds return, plant seeds for the future, nourish my garden (and in doing so my soul), and pay just enough attention to current events to have a sense of what’s going on but to an extent that robs me of my peace. I’m going to continue on a quiet, intentional path that some may call boring but that I know is rich and full.