Today I am thankful to be back in the quiet peacefulness of Keewaydin, away from the madness of crowds and traffic which I experienced yesterday. I notice myself growing increasingly intolerant of city life/people and more and more comfortable on a dead end gravel road alone or with Rufus. Since studying social justice at Johns Hopkins masters program, I am hyper aware of all the things that are wrong with society, all the mistakes we make, all the damage we do, and all the widespread stupidity. I wrestle with the dichotomy of wanting to fight injustice and wanting to retreat from it all. I feel like I have a more steadfast connection with a basil plant, a cool breeze, or a group of clucking hens than most people I meet…and they make me happier, more at peace. I realize this is not the typical or even advantageous stance of an activist for change, and I have to deal with that somehow. Again Thoreau echoes in my mind.

“I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time. To be in company, even with the best, is soon wearisome and dissipating. I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.”

― Henry David Thoreau, Walden

Song to Accompany Post: Tom Petty, Wildflowers

~Joy