On, if not in, control

 This afternoon we saw what we think was a great spangled fritillary (Speyeria cybele) feeding on the swamp milkweed flowers. Unfortunately, we had left our camera, and even our  cell phone, back in the  house. No photos. The wet spot where the swamp milkweed grows is almost grown over. The wild storms that came through "The Cities" last night missed us. We are not complaining about that but it's on an increasingly short list of things we are grateful for as we remember the old saying "things always seem darkest just before they go totally black!"

swamp milkweed in bloom

Photo by J. Harrington

On the short list we note that the tree frog is living in the blue bird house; near a half dozen ruby-throated hummingbirds are buzzing around the nectar feeders; and, humidity is way down today, thank goodness. Furthermore, I have confirmed that my mail in ballot has been accepted and will be counted for tomorrow's primary election.

Of course, there's growing concern about how long it may take to know the results of the election, as well as increasing agitation about the status of the USPS and the upcoming general election. My email inbox is daily filled with one or two dozen alerts to the newest or biggest or newest and biggest and worst crisis created by the current regime in Washington. My Twitter "timeline" is full of more and more "resisters" outraged by any number of foul, evil deeds perpetrated by Republicans. Meanwhile, some of the Democrats, some of the time, talk a good game but their actions are nonexistent to pathetic. I believe it is time to put some firm bounds around the amount of attention I devote to the deterioration of the country and follow, with more vigor, some advice the Daughter Person shared some days ago.

She and I each have mild (heh, heh) tendencies toward wanting to control outcomes. That may not be shocking since, as Donella Meadows writes "the mindset of the industrial world assumes that there is a key to prediction and control." She [Meadows, not the Daughter Person] continues with  this assessment:

But self-organizing, nonlinear feedback systems are inherently unpredictable. They are not controllable. They are understandable only in the most general way. The goal of foreseeing the future exactly and preparing for it perfectly is unrealizable. The idea of making a complex system do just what you want it to do can be achieved only temporarily, at best.

Although Daughter Person and I each recognize the legitimacy of what Meadows has written, I, at least, continue to ignore it and act as if I don't remember that I know what I know. That's where the aforementioned advice comes in. I'll let you read it for yourself.

 

I suspect that, over the rest of this year and the beginning of next, and then probably longer than that, many of us will need to keep reminding ourselves, and those close to us, of what we can, and cannot, control. I know I will. As part of my choices, actions, words and ideas, I'm going to focus more on my writing and what's going on in my immediate environment and less on the political scene. I will vote and I've already made several donations to the more progressive political types I know. I'm past time to set boundaries more firmly and then accept where I've put the surveyor's stakes.

Control

By Rae Armantrout

We are learning to control our thoughts,

to set obtrusive thoughts aside.

It takes an American

to do really big things.

Often I have no thoughts to push against.

It's lonely in a song

about outer space.

When I don't have any thoughts,

I want one!

A close-up reveals

that she has chosen

a plastic soap dish

in the shape of a giant sea turtle.

Can a thought truly be mine

if I am not currently thinking it?

There are two sides

to any argument;

one arm

in each sleeve.

           •

Maybe I am always meditating,

if by that you mean

searching for a perfect

stranger.

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