Sunday, June 10, 2007

Riding life's roller coasters...

Today is a deep-thinking day for me for some reason. I "suffer" from clinical depression although I take medication. Between that and being peri-menopausal for too many years {just pause already} I do have my own inner roller coaster that I have to deal with. Then there are the exterior roller coasters that I can easily fall prey to if I'm not careful. Today was a good example.
First thing this morning, before leaving for church, I started what is a weekly routine of spending most of Sunday reading the Sunday Washington Post. On the front page was a story regarding a 50,000 year old tribe in Tanzania which is in jeopardy of vanishing due to a financial deal Tanzania is making with an Arab family to take over more of the tribe's Serengeti territory for recreational hunting purposes. A member of the UAE royal family had indicted that their 2,500 square miles of land was getting "too crowded" and that member had requested his own parcel! I mean absolutely no offense to The UAE, any Arabs, or to this royal family specifically, hunters in general, sure. An official called the Hadzabe tribe "backwards" and declared that the tribe would benefit from the many gracious offerings of help as compensation from The UAE. Of course the UAE is making very generous offers such as schools, etc. but it sadded me to the core at the thought of that ancient tribe being at the very least "modernized". And I also believe that all people should have a say in what is best for them themselves. Then I start my decent into the "what's the world coming to?" black hole that sometimes sends me to my bed in the early afternoon.
As I was finishing the story I glanced out of the french doors and saw the birds eating out of the feeder I have on our back deck. At that moment there was a couple, the fellow taking and feeding the lady. I watched this and shared it with my young son and off the roller coaster I stepped into a calm, clear world where things were making sense again...

2 comments:

Mippie said...

I hate to hear what you're going through but what a gift that little bird was! I truly believe miracles come often in small packages--we just have to pay attention! xo-Mellie

Doojies said...

I didn't mean to sound so morbid, I just have a tendency to absorb too much from the outside world. Obviously, if I'm careful and watchful, that can be more of a blessing as with the birds. Thank you, Mellie, for your sweet words. Yours too, Julia, still sniffing and dabbing...