Life Is Too Much With Us...

There never seems to be time to do the things I WANT to do.  Or THINK I want to do.  I end up reading in my "spare" time, or staring at social media. 
Don't get me wrong, I love to read, and I have learned many odd and useful things from books, and I have "met" many interesting and informative people on social media. 
There are things I would like to do, like writing, that don't get done, though.
The housework mostly gets done, my exercise gets done, but the writing... well...
Usually there is just the feeling that there isn't anything worthwhile to say.  Some days, life is just routine and rather drab.  There are small things, though, that shine brightly and ought to be savored in those days. 
Laughing with my husband, seeing a child's face light up at the library when they check out a book they love, laughing with my coworkers, secretly doing some small thing to make some one's day better, enjoying a really good meal, seeing the garden sparkle in the sunlight after a summer shower, birds singing, children laughing and playing in the sun, listening to music that makes me want to move, enjoying the fact that at my age I am still strong and healthy.
All good gifts, and all very much appreciated. 

The thoughtful turn of phrase just doesn't always come along these days.  There will be times when words will hound me until I get them on the page,and then there are the silent times, or the times when things are just whirling too fast to get from my brain to the page.  Also, writing is fun for me, not a job.  My actual job is a job, but also something of a holy calling.  Libraries, and the free access to information that they stand for, are very close to my heart.  Always have been.  I went into teaching because literacy is important to me.  Learning to read opens SO many doors.  The realities of life in the public schools were just TOO much stress for me.  I knew I'd burn out if I did it full time.  Even now, in a job I really love, and can handle well, I only work half time.  I am grateful for a husband who earns a good enough living that I can afford to do that.  Stress and I do NOT combine well.  I stop sleeping, and well, that way lies danger, Will Robinson! 

The things that are happening in the world today have me more worried about the future than I was even during the height of the Cold War.  (For those of you too young to remember it, many of us grew up with the thought in the back of our minds that certain annihilation was just around the corner in the form of a nuclear war.)  I was actually in Germany when the Wall fell.  It was a surreal moment.  Driving in to the base (Rhein-Main Air Base) and hearing on the radio that the Berlin Wall was coming down.  Then the upheaval in the Soviet Union.  Russia no longer the great big boogie man that it was.  (Though it's still a threat, make no mistake, if they want to, they can hurt us.)
Just that then there was pretty much a single threat.  (A HUGE one, but only one.)  Today, there are a thousand little threats that are all adding up against the peace and stability of our world.  Too many injustices, too much hate, too many extreme ideas, and too many selfish agendas with no compromise. 
In the face of all that, all any of us can really do is keep plugging away, making our little patch of the world brighter, more loving, more peaceful, more accepting of the different ones, and keep praying that it makes a difference when you add it all up.

So much for my rambling brain this evening.  Hope you haven't been bored out of your skull.  Thanks for reading!