All things repeat. All things. And now Paris. Again. 
The world is a frightening and fascinating place. I have lived in a number of cities in the world. I have made terrible mistakes and wondrous decisions. So I am not naive. And as you know I have made a decision to move to the country, grow my own food and not to get involved in world news. No TV, no radio and no news feed on my computer. Not to ever see a doctor again even at the hour of my death. To leave politics. To live without influence. I cannot vote in the country I live in so Politics holds no interest for me.
This works for most of the time but with Hugo (my resident Frenchman) sitting across from me thumping his computer with the palm of his hand as Paris erupts in violence, I cannot help but be drawn in. He is cursing in French at the screen. I know little French to speak of but I understand every word. It is the scream of the young against the horror. Trying to make sense of a world of madness while sitting in a world of calm. And the madness is not new. Of course not. But for him it is.
Is this why I live in this isolated place? Where there is only cows and pigs and food and birds and me laughing and skipping about. Like an idiot. Am I terribly clever or the ostrich with her head in the sand.
I don’t know.
All I know for sure is that we are transients across the face of the earth we strut about on. We are temporary beings. Violence and war are a given for men and animals – even in a field of cattle, or a pen of pigs or chickens – violence is the way order is established in the animal kingdom and mans kingdom. Even the crowing of the farm roosters in the morning must happen in a designated order or there will be terrible retribution.
So why do we expect better from people. Yet I do.
We do. We can think. We can think and plot for power. Dominance over our kitchens or our neighbours, or our animals , power over our children, power over our dogs, power of religion, power in politics. It is impossible to escape it. We ALL think we know better than the other guy. But we also have the choice to think WITH the other guy. Listen to the other guy. Listen.
I said to a friend yesterday morning that I have won more battles with my EARS. Not by shouting or hitting or demanding that I know best. Because I do not. But by listening and waiting. Not joining in the name calling. Listening.
We are all flawed. We are none of us perfect.
Please, Please do not judge a person by his religion or his brothers religion, or by his political beliefs or by the food she eats or even her words. Judge me by my ACTIONS. Watch what I DO not what I say. Don’t blame me for the actions of my neighbours or the path I walk. Words are powerful but ultimately they are tissue paper. Listen to me. Watch my face. Forgive me, then listen again. Think about why I said what I said not WHAT I said. Then judge me when I am dead and in my coffin. Then you may judge me. Kindly I hope. But hold off until then. I may be still evolving and thinking myself. I may not have it right yet. I might still be working out how to live in this new and forever world. Or I may have hidden from it.
Don’t punish the little people on their little wheels for the horror caused by their big mean brothers with the big guns.
Be careful. Please be careful. I am only a wee person. Each one of us is. Being gentle is so much harder than pulling a real or metaphorical trigger.
Love celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
50 responses to “The new and the forever”
For Hugo : Je te veux exprimer toute ma sympathie.
Amicalement, Irmi
Wonderful piece. Was at a gathering last night, and the first thing we did (there were about 100 people)was to say a prayer for the people of Paris. Convey my sorrow and love to your young friend and stalwart helper Hugo.
A beautiful, heartfelt response Celi. Like creates like. If we want more love and care, we give more. If we want more fighting and hatred and violence that’s what we’ll get by it. I want peace and tolerance and community where everyone has a place.
Thank you for writing about this. I never watch TV now because the images sear my brain. I listen to the radio news, sparingly. With such terrible events, what comes to my mind is rebalancing. My way of rebalancing is to meditate and pray and be with the earth & my garden. Your way is to uphold a lifestyle of healthy living, kindness and care. This is a precious contribution, & I am so grateful that you and others are doing this. Thank you for living such an affirmation of what matters.
Because of time differences I got the horrific news and reposted the same amongst the first I guess in the ‘Community’: it felt like 9/11 all over again . . . Unlike you I do watch TV and read all available comments, am actually active in a number of groups . . . but SO agree with your pivotal comment ‘we all think that we know better than the other guy’ . . . if each and every one of us understood and accepted that we would be living in a different world . . . but we have a long, long way go provided we do not wipe one another out in the interim . . . and I simply do not know whether those who know to look left, right and centre are in the majority! Meanwhile am quietly humming the ‘Marseillaise’, bloodthirsty tho’ it also is . . .
This news made me sad and confused. For those of us doing our best to love and be tolerant and understanding, what else is needed? I don’t know, but I do know more violence is not the answer. If it was the world would be at peace by now. Hugs to Hugo. xxx
[…] of thekitchensgarden hasn’t exactly gone off grid, but she’s come close and her response to this tragedy is […]
At times like this when you see the news, you wonder what is going to become of mankind. There seems to be so much hatred and misunderstanding ripping apart the world. And then you realise, as you say, that violence has always been a part of living. You only have to look back a short way in human history to the Middle Ages, to find similar (or worse) times. I try to believe that human goodness will always triumph. It must be, or we would not have got so far as we already have. Do any of you follow Paul Salopek’s journey on National Geographic? He is walking out of Africa, following the steps of humans as they spread across the globe. His stories of kindness given to a travelling stranger and of friendships made even in the most unsettled regions, warm your heart. His latest post made me think. He visited an archaelogical site in Dmanisi, where a number of hominid graves have been found. And there are a number of skeletons whose existence proves that they cared for their own – an older man with a withered arm, a child with severe brain deformities. It makes you realise that kindness and compassion are part of our human makeup, and hope that it will always triumph over hatred and violence. If anyone else wants to read, the link is http://outofedenwalk.nationalgeographic.com/2015/11/10/the-natural-history-of-compassion/.
Have you read Sapiens – a short study of humankind or something like that – you might like it – i am half way through – but am very impressed
“I keep my ideals because in spite of everything I still believe that
people are good at heart.”
~~~Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl
Much love and especially to Hugo,
Gayle
That was beautiful prose, my friend. You manage to express so many of the same things I feel – that many of us feel. I try to remember that I have not walked in another person’s shoes. And I can’t help but think as a collective group of caring people, that we can make a difference by being compassionate and loving.
I don’t watch the news, makes me far too angry. If, like what has happened in Paris happens, I will get wind of it one way or another so no need for me to watch all the negativity on the telly every day – I don’t like punishing myself like that. I agree, not all are bad but how very sad that so few are able to destroy so much! Humans are killing mother earth each day, quicker and quicker – one day she will have to implode on herself if things don’t start changing for the better.
Have a wonderful farmy day C.
🙂 Mandy xoxoxo
Beautifully said,Celi.
My heart goes out to Hugo as he comes to terms with this new reality.
Reblogged this on Art-Colored Glasses and commented:
This is a first for me, but I must share my friend Celi’s post with my community here at Art-Colored Glasses. Because ours are not always *rose*-colored glasses, we find it meaningful to contemplate the complexities of the human condition, and the mistress of The Kitchens Garden says it so superbly. Read on, my friends.
Exquisitely said. I must share this. Reblogged it. THANK YOU.
Love,
Kath