Sixes and sevens

Photo by Ayesha Firdaus on Unsplash

I turn 67 on 6/6. It is just a number, the cliche tells us.

What the number is supposed to signify, we must figure out on our own. Pay no attention to that meme in the corner.

The word that comes to my mind when I ponder the meaning of “the number” is: gassed. I feel gassed.

The term “gassed” has several meanings.

It can mean exhausted, bone-dead tired. Sometimes, I am absolutely staring into the abyss.

It can mean the opposite: super jazzed; excited. My inner curmudgeon hides this state well.

And it can also be used to denoted being gaslighted: intentionally misled or fooled.

Its oldest idiomatic usage is to mean drunk, which is seldom a thing anymore.

Except for the drunk part, I’m feeling all of the above, in an alternating, chaotic, and random manner.

It’s been like living a tri-polar existence.

* * *

As I take stock ahead of another (hopefully full) orbit, I count my many blessings. My life is full of good things.

I love, and am loved. As we approach our 40th year together, my bestie and I have grown into a comfortable, supportive and fulfilling relationship. We quibble and squabble, as most couples do. But we are rock solid, as individuals and as a bonded pair.

Our offspring have grown into pretty terrific young adults. They are a joy to watch grow, and to hang with. We done pretty good.

I am fulfilled by the work that I do, and the community that surrounds and supports me. We are actively expanding our ability to serve our community. We are making a difference and are improving people’s lives. And we are bringing people together in doing so. This drives hope and a growing appreciation that collaboration is a path to progress.

Building NY together

Obviously, the world is also full of many not good things at present. Far too many do not have the opportunities that many of us take for granted, and worse — the means of getting ahead are actively being taken away. It is inhumane to be taking more away from those who have less, and handing it to those who have far, far more than they deserve.

This is not where we should be. I know it is not where most want to be, for themselves or for others. Yet here we are.

I know that I am among the fortunate. I can chart and command my own course, for the most part, and change that course when needed or as desired, to overcome whatever annoyances — real, manufactured or imagined — that I face. Some call that privilege, but I don’t much like how that term is increasingly used; in a judgemental and demeaning manner. You cannot lift someone up by pushing another down.

It is an inalienable truth that I have not faced systemic barriers that many of those less fortunate face. Barriers that set one back from the start, and that are being deliberately expanded, thus trapping more and more in a vicious cycle that they cannot escape on their own, despite what some are falsely telling us, and what far too many believe.

We each have an ability and responsibility to change the course we are on. There is growing evidence that we are in the midst of a large, sweeping turn. That we have experienced a painful and long-overdue civics lesson and are resolving to right what is wrong.

“Whoever gives nothing, has nothing. The greatest misfortune is not to be unloved, but not to love.” - Albert Camus

Tightening and accelerating a change of course would be the best present we can receive, as individuals and as a nation.

Let’s give generously to those who need the most.

🎂 🎁 🇺🇸