Greetings!
In my neighborhood, spring has slowly poked its way into existence. Daffodils have revealed their sunny faces in New York’s Central Park and trees are hinting at leaves to come. At long last those lingering sooty snowbanks have seeped into sewage grates, yielding to the new season.
All of this burgeoning life reaching upwards in response to the snow melting downwards reminds me of just how much our natural world is capable of renewal even as we tax it relentlessly.
That sense of possibility, of a newer — maybe better — round of existence, feels connected to a phrase that keeps coming up in different conversations:
“I do what I can.”
I used to interpret this line as a cop-out. Now I think of it quite differently — as a potent call to action where each of those short little words is rife with meaning. Let me break it down as I hear it now:
“I”: That one in the mirror is as responsible as the next person. No sense wondering when “they” will show up. Tag! [I am] it. [Insert whoever happens to be the in the mirror here.]
“Do”: The ultimate action word! No dithering around here.
“What”: Exactly. What? Time to get specific.
“I”: Oh look! It’s that one in the mirror again, not being let off the hook.
“Can”: My shoulders just did that thing they do when I take a deep, mindful breath. Why? Because the thing I will do is possible.
I find this phrase — “I do what I can” — so much more compelling than one like, “What is wrong with these people?” or the hand-wringing, abdicating refrain: “Someone should do something!”
And so I do what I can. Sharing a few ideas about what might contribute to a better existence (see below) is something I can do.
Yours in connectedness,
Lorraine
