On paddling upstream ...

We do not have cable, and although we do have an antenna that allows us to pick up a couple of local broadcasters, I rarely watch it (as most of us are, I'm spoiled by the on-demandness of streaming services).  Somehow I have trained my eye to ignore the ads online (part of my commitment to using technology rather than allowing it to use me).  I see ads of course out in the world, on transit, on billboards ... but I go out of my way to avoid engaging with them. 

Last night my sports-loving husband was tuned into the local broadcast of the NFL football game (he was pretty bummed by the outcome, for those of you who care).  Setting aside my critique of pro-sports in general, I was gobsmacked by the ads.  Every time out I was blasted with ads to SPEND MORE, EAT CRAPPY FOOD, BUY STUFF YOU DON'T NEED.  Of course none of the ads actually said this.  They told us that buying stuff will make us happy.  That the food is delicious (and affordable!). That we deserve it.  

No mention of the externalized costs. The health impacts of eating crappy food.  The environmental impacts of unfettered consumption (of both food and stuff). The devastating economic inequities of acquisitiveness (thanks for the word, Sarah!). Because none of this matters to the corporations who are exclusively in the business of making as much profit for their shareholders as possible. 

I spend so much time reading, thinking, reflecting, meditating on how I can be more effective at making the world a better place. I struggle with the discernment between what I can change and what I can't.  If I just tried harder/differently, others might change their choices. Those are the messages in my head, which are obviously grandiose.  As if I am so powerful (thank you Joanna Macy for the humbling reminder).  But more than that, a tsunami of devastating messaging crashes over all of us. Every. Blessed. Day. That's a lot for any brain to counter, and a potent (and well-financed) force for people like me to ask others to interrogate.

Someone once told me that nothing worth having is upstream.  That has been an conundrum for me. The letting go of the resistance and going with the flow. Especially when I feel that flow as being that tsunami of deliberately constructed narratives that I see drowning and destroying our planet and those that depend on it (ie. all of us). I don't want to go where it's taking me. And it's exhausting to try and pull others out of the torrential current, especially when they seem to be enjoying the ride.

Which is where the brilliant Desmond Tutu (RIP) quote about going upstream and figuring out why folks are falling in feels apt. Although he wasn't talking about this, it does reinforce my belief that going upstream is super important. 

Maybe I don't have to paddle though? And is there a way for me to love what is along the way?  

​I'm losing the metaphor.        ​