Wednesday July 30, 2003 at  6:23 PM

Out of Sorts

Appearing in  What Not

And then there are those times when you mostly feel overwhelmed and perhaps a bit lost. Although it’s hard to say what brings them on or what leads to their closure, I am thankful that they rarely last for more than a few days.

Perhaps it is too much awareness — one too many news stories read, one too many grim statistics noted, one too many callous acts observed.

Perhaps it is in my nature, tending as I am towards the pessimistic. After all, who has time to bother with the question half-empty versus half-full when there are so many trying to destroy the glass altogether be it by reckless mismanagement, mindless consumption, or common apathy and ignorance.

Perhaps such confusion is to be expected. Looking out on the world it is hard to find examples of true progress, compassion, or justice. More common are the effects of a revolution that has been 200 years in the making and the outcome of which is far from settled. What I see is political unrest, social upheaval, and a systematic dismantling of the civic and environmental supports that have held the world together.

I see the end of the natural constraints that have governed the expansion of humanity and I see an unavoidable collision between our material appetites and the ability of our planet to satiate them. And perhaps worst of all, I see very little reason to believe that it won’t all end badly.

Although I expect the fog to pass soon, I am for now, drowning in the current.

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