CAUSE OF ACTION
Friday, April 9, 2021 - daily column #6723
We all fall down – not only in childhood rhymes, but in life, all the time, but nobody falls off this ride on earth until it stops turning, or until we stop.
We spend our lives chasing dreams and pay dirt and pleasures and pain avoidance – but on balance, that balance we quest for, that balance we need, is not found in our account at a bank or equilibrium measured with any device or theory of physics or metaphysics. Balance is having a sense of connection, real or imagined, with something. That could be someone, a book, a philosophy, a hobby, a passion – something to feel passionate about, some cause of action …
I love that term, I learned from the world of litigation – where lawsuits start with a plaintiff and defendant, or an applicant vs. respondent, trying to resolve some conflict or wrong, and that first part is called the ‘style of cause,’ which is then followed by a dissertation of their ‘cause of action,’ and ends with their claim for damages and a prayer for relief. Such metaphors are prescient today.
Our collective angst is inadequately addressed. Nearly everyone is disappointed about something – and whether or not the thing we are feeling outsized rage over is life-threatening to anyone. It impacts our lives in ways that trigger emotions, punches buttons and causes us to act out. Most of that acting out, by proxy, as politicians and media’s talking-heads debate issues du jour. They possess no balance but masquerade as if they are seeking it on our behalf.
Now, getting back to balance as I understand it:
It’s light or heavy, near or far, long-standing or shiny-new. It feels balanced, light as a feather or as crushing as the weight of heavy worry or a massive tragedy. It is the survival method; it is the survival explanation that gets us through our days, through sleepless nights and endless anguish – it is not being prepared for any particular joy we seek or skill set we need for whatever comes next, but don’t we all need this balance to stabilize the confidence in our step? I believe we do. Just as I can’t be ready for tomorrow until I finish today …
Yet at the end of every day, I have so much I didn’t do, so much I haven’t done that the in-box and to-do list overflow to the extent that sometimes I wish for ‘empty’, but I also know that empty means over, empty means done, empty means nothing left to do. I expect that day will come but not for a few decades yet.
Or it could be tomorrow.
Life, as we all learn each time someone vanishes from our lives, is never a certainty. But we can’t live that way because we need childhood rhymes and times. We need to spill ourselves on every day like ink on a new page.
Balance is giving and getting some caring. Not a lot, but some, and it’s genuinely offered and gratefully received – that’s balance.
Reader feedback:
A year ago today I saved my Dad's life. As hard as this last year has been, it has also been a tremendous gift. Will always be grateful, JB, Edmonton, AB