The Good and the Bad News

Balance is all about polarities. Hot with cold, light with dark, good with bad. The yin yang mandala is the simplest yet most powerful visual representation of this balance. The outer circle represents the totality of everything. The dark and light spaces within the circle represent the two opposite energies that are constantly interacting and creating life. The bit of light in the dark and dark in the light demonstrate how there is always a little bit of the opposite energy in everything and that everything is not always just black or white but that there are grey areas in between. Everything isn’t always crystal clear and uncertainty can be a part of the journey.

Recently I read a passage from “The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine” about yin and yang energies. I loved how simply and beautifully these energies were described. Yin is described as “the shady side of a hill” and Yang as “the sunny side of a hill”. In this ancient book of knowledge, which was first translated into English in 1949, this polarity of energies, or duality, is accredited as the “instigator of all change”.

I remember being an elementary student in the 70’s learning about an “oil crisis”. I really didn’t understand what the fuss was all about until I took the courage to raise my hand and ask the teacher why oil was so important. This kind and patient teacher took a breath and took the time to explain to my classmates and I that our world, at the time, basically ran on, and was made of, oil. Previously to that explanation I had not made the connection to where any of the stuff around me came from. As our lessons continued I became excited to hear about alternative energy from the sun and how the world that we will live in as adults will be healthier, more environmentally friendly and basically better. Things have taken a little longer than I had expected, something to do with oil company interests, automakers, and energy company interests that I won’t go into here – I will try to find a better informed writer to step in for me on that topic soon. (for good news on this subject check out what Germany is up to and how one Canadian company is making solar energy collectors http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/2008-2009/the_gospel_of_green/ )

Times are changing and the yin and yang are interacting constantly and more actively today to bring that change. The last two weeks have been crammed with news of oil well disaster, woodlot cutting, and stock market glitches among other things. The other side of this news is that even more people are aware of the costs of using oil to drive, make plastics, heat our homes etc. Some others have been thinking a little more about our man made economic system, how much they depend on it, and that it is fallible. And in our community many good people are coming together to stand up for their standing sisters and brothers, the trees.

If you want to join the tree preserving efforts come to next week’s council meeting: Council of the Municipality of Chatham-Kent will hold a public meeting on MAY 17, 2010, at 6:00 p.m., local time, in the Council Chamber of the Civic Centre (2nd Floor), 315 King Street West, Chatham.

So you see, within every event there is the seed of another kind of happening if you choose to find it.