Today is Election Day and I’m full of dread. I want to say that I’m optimistic and trust in the innate wisdom of the American People. I don’t.
There is a line from Frank Herbert’s classic science fiction novel Dune. It is one of the self-control teachings the hero learns from his mother. “Fear Is the Mind Killer.” This election is an unambiguous demonstration of that truth.
A couple of nights ago, I couldn’t sleep. Worries and aches and pains made it impossible to find a comfortable position. My head was like a Dodgem Cars rink. Ideas whirled about, spitting sparks and stinking of ozone.
I got up and went into my office, sat in the darkness, and mediated. The moon shown with the cold, crystalline light of the void. I studied its craters and mare, contemplating time and the immensity of existence. I felt the same awe that I had felt as a kid when I stared into the night sky. Sometimes, I would feel as if I were falling into the starry night.
I felt a sense of completeness. All my sparking-stinking concerns ran out of juice and ground to a halt. My fears were reduced to husks. Emptied of their energy, they could no longer grow and fester. My apprehensions withered, transformed into fossils that I could examine and demystify.
In the morning, reality, authentic and imagined, re-imposed itself. However, impressions of the moonlight reminded me of what I felt and understood.
Tonight, as I listen to the election returns, I will visualize the moonlight and calm. I will examine my curiosities and continue planning for a more humane future.
Regardless of the outcome of this election, nothing changes, unless we change it.
Moonlight is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license. Hand-held image taken with iPhone 8+, Processed using Topaz Studio and Photoshop