A friend of mine wrote a long soul-searching post about how to deal with the times we are in on Facebook  and asked for my response. Her post got me to thinking about the situation we’re in on a more general, philosophical level. Here’s what I said to her:

“I certainly have no more idea than anybody else as to wtf we should do or how we should see this situation. The thing I keep coming back to for myself though is that it is the quality of my presence, and whatever actions emerge from that, that is central to how I want to be on the planet. I don’t think that being “in the world but not of it” doesn’t mean one doesn’t take action, but that perhaps those actions emerge from a place of knowing that while we are responsible for what we co-create while here, that all is temporary. We all die. Civilizations rise and fall, as do all living beings through the seasons and through the geologic epochs. One thing I refuse to do is be triggered into panic or freeze modes. Fuck that. I’m going to soak up all the goodness of this life that I can, even while making DIY gas masks for protesters in big cities. I’ll laugh at the hilarious memes coming out of this time because that helps to unclench my gut. I’m going to eat food I love and that is good for my body, even as I buy big bags of lentils and rice, just in case. If someone comes to my door hungry I will feed them, even if that means sharing the one last chapati I have, because that’s the kind of person I want to be. I’m not afraid of death. I’m more afraid of acting from fear (paradoxically).”