Personal, Societal and Ecological Mindfulness and Compassion
What is old? What is young? What is forever?
In this very moment, may you enjoy reading these brief personal, societal and ecological reflections arising in mindfulness and compassion.
Personal Reflections:
Well, I was discharged from Avora Physical Therapy and am beginning to work out with a Personal Trainer at the local YMCA gym in Black Mountain, NC. Onward in increased strength and stability! My walking has improved, and I am enjoying strolling in the heat of our mountain-forest neighborhood in Swannanoa, NC.
Later this month, I will speak in a virtual side event of the UN 2026 High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF 2026). I prefer writing to speaking these days but decided to do this. Grateful that my Facebook posts on mindfulness and compassion were viewed 142,000 times in the past 28 days. I continue to enjoy writing weekly essays on Substack and working on a new book of essays concerning the care of Earth, society and body-mind as a mindful elder.
Enjoyed a phone conversation recently with Cosmas Gitta, a former UN friend in New York, who is writing nonfiction on reducing poverty in Africa and also venturing into fiction, and another phone call with Bruce Williams, an old ICA friend in Chicago, who is writing an incredible memoir on his experiences and insights concerning authentic presence. Happy wedding anniversary today to son Christopher and daughter-in-law Jennifer!
It is strange to be so old with weakening memory and muscles and abundant tiredness. Even so, I am grateful to be alive, conscious, and caring for others. I try to be present in each moment, but sometimes am caught up in a past memory or a future vision. When I celebrate my 82nd birthday at the end of July, I will do so in utter gratitude for past, present and future.
Societal Reflections:
I am pleased that the US Supreme Court recently upheld birthright citizenship and that the country is supporting more midterm election candidates with a social democracy/democratic socialist perspective of caring for all the people. Even so, the continuous attacks on our Constitutional democracy, social justice, truth, and peace are deeply concerning.
Celebrating our 250th anniversary this month will be challenging, including both gratitude for many advances and sadness concerning many retreats and threats. Recalling that at the beginning of our democracy only land owning white men could vote - no women, poor people, people of color, indigenous or slaves. Realizing that our country is just a baby - only three of my lifetimes old.
May democracy in the US and around the world deepen and flourish along the lines we see in the Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, and others, the world’s happiest countries. May participatory democracy, ecological regeneration, social justice, and peace abound. Let’s get out the vote (GOTV) in massive numbers!
Ecological Reflections:
Parts of Europe, Pakistan and Phoenix, AZ, are among the hotest places these days due to climate change. This week in western North Carolina we will have a high of 92 degrees F, but nothing like Paris. We humans must acknowledge our responsibility for climate chaos and ecocide and change our ways of being. We are Earthlings and are part of the living Earth.
May we care for the living rivers, oceans, ground water, soil, air, and all species of plants, animals and fungi. May we breathe life-giving air in and out in gratitude and acknowledge that our bodies are mostly water. May we learn from our indigenous brothers and sisters how to care for the sacred Earth, our mother.
May we give thanks for our nearby sun-star, the Milky Way galaxy, and the conscious cosmos of ultimate mystery, of which we have been part for 13.8 billion years, and of which we continue to be part, and of which we will continue to be part forever. You and I are the conscious cosmos. May we enjoy, give thanks and care for all beings everywhere.
May it be so.
From Akekho Umumtu:
Hi sorry for the late response. I am still learning how to use Substack. So that's what the little bubble means haha. I am well. I am feeling the inevitable aging, sickness and mortality and yet I've made peace and acknowledged what I can do and what is set. It's been interesting times with the invasion of an occupying force in my city again in the last 6 years. But each time the everyday people have stood up and bore the brunt of brutality , some even with their lives , to say we care about our neighbors , we love them and are willing to bear discomfort and persecution and prosecution for them. I have learned the lesson that fear is a natural response and right to recognize and hold , that it is through fear that bravery and courage are developed. We continue to do good, whether it comes in our lifetime or not because we are planting seeds.
From Bruce Williams:
Hi Rob, Thank you for the timely message and for mentioning our call and my writing. I will keep you informed.