The Sangro de Christo Mountains are the periphery of my world. These mountains wrap their prominent ridges around the wide open mesa where I live. The snow and water they hold will feed the spring rivers. A refuge from the heat in summer, they offer awe inspiring snow hikes and skis in the winter.
I’m reading the book “Pod” by Laline Paull. It’s a story from the perspective of cetaceans in the ocean. It touches on climate change and societal issues. Paul says, “without the propulsion of the pod, Yaru and her little daughter fell back until to her dismay they were in the struggling ranks of the peripherals. They were the people without alliances: the sick, the old, the weak, the wrong thinking, and the odd ones.” Two peripheries of a different sort…
Paull’s writing and the report on Biden from the justice department describing him as “a well meaning elderly man with a poor memory” got me thinking about how we judge and treat people in our society. We focus on problems, not on contributions. There’s an attitude of “lack”. We miss appreciation, respect, and gratefulness for what any person can contribute. I feel for Biden, who works hard to bring his aspirations for this country to fruition. Why don’t we see the list of things his administration, under his guidance, has accomplished? We fear the absence of future accomplishments, not the lack of current ones. More is what we crave. We do it to ourselves also. We count our steps, so we can do more of them. Our interest is on reps in the gym, on achievements in life. We tally and judge. Luckily, in writing fewer words is better. Still, we’re counting words.
Despite my peripheral status, I can still out-walk/hike many younger individuals and, with patience and determination, deliver inspiring presentations. My family and friends appreciate I live independently, don’t need help with daily activities and can grow a lot of my food, but society doesn’t necessarily count my status as a good one. My independence doesn’t fatten the pockets of elder-care people, doesn’t add to the astonishing windfall drug companies get from prescribing meds to a baby-boomer generation in retirement. I experience being on the periphery when I get overwhelmed as my construction guys throw out numbers and ideas in rapid succession. Numbers and ideas I have to process so I can make sound decisions. I get overwhelmed when I have to organize and bring multiple boxes and equipment to a gathering, or on a ski trip. I need more time, a slower pace to get organized.
Does that make me “old, weak, an odd thinker” as Paull calls them? Does that make me a peripheral? Maybe I've lived my whole life on the periphery. I've gone against the grain: traveling, emigrating, living off the land, focusing on experiences and education for my kids instead of material goods. As I age, I've become an "influencer" desired for my abilities and experiences. Abilities and experiences others want as they age.
While America watches the Super Bowl, where players fight each other in a not always friendly frenzy to get the ball and make a throw, my friends living in a peripheral society (Ladakh) are celebrating Losar, the Tibetan New Year. The Dalai Lama teaches them: share your customs with the West, share a warm heart. We can sure use that, a warm heart.
Instead of focusing on their slower pace and memory, let's appreciate people's contributions to society. Glass half full outlook, rather than half empty.
The press is unkind, the DOJ out of line by focusing on Biden’s memory instead of his accomplishments. Don’t join the throngs who put him on the periphery of functioning because he can’t remember a date, a name. Share your warm heart. There is more to celebrate than acute memory.
Not watching the Superbowl! Great share Dami! As I tried to read a book for my precepts study group tomorrow, the neighbor was yelling, clapping and shouting his opinions on the players. Someone else was lighting fireworks nearby. I definitely felt " not one" with the fans of football in my scene.
But then, I read your piece and found myself nodding in agreement to your suggestion that we celebrate contributions, warm our hearts and welcome everyone into the circle. Let's find our commonalities and let go of this destructive periphery prison we put each other in. Thank you Dami!
Yes. Let’s celebrate those on the periphery.