– ACCEPT: We are a miraculous, unlikely
fragile species in a mysteriously oxygenated
corner of the universe. We have never been
and never will be complete masters of our
circumstances, we remain invariably at the
mercy of awesome uncontrollable forces to
which we should submit with a measure of grace.
– CONCEDE: Our impotence before events,
the powerlessness of our mighty brains, the
humbling inflicted on us by nature, our vulnerability
to the absurdities of microbial life. – LET
GO: of ideals of perfection, of uncreased
lives and flawless trajectories. We should
expect – regularly – to be taken wholly
by surprise. – NO PERSECUTION: None of it
was done with us in mind. We have not been
singled out. We may be victims; we were never
targets. – LOVE: Our fellow broken humans;
hold out a hand to our similarly scared and
confused neighbours, build friendships around
the always-surprising and blessed discovery
of mutual vulnerability. – SERVE: Gain relief
from how much richer it is to love than to
be loved and how much more gratifying to serve
than to be served. Take a holiday from the
gruelling search for self-fulfilment in the
name of that infinitely easier goal: the reassurance
and relief of others. – PESSIMISM: Gain
peace of mind not by expecting the best, but
by scoping out the very worst and making oneself
at peace in its grimmest recesses. Drain terror
of its unexamined dimensions. Bore yourself
out of fear. – APPRECIATE: especially birdsong,
the drawings of the under sevens, pictures
of palm trees, lemons and the memories of
beaches and hugs. – LAUGH: At the absurdity
of the shitshow; insist on defiant humour
on the way to the gallows. – SELF-FORGIVENESS:
For our inability to be exactly as we would
wish and as calm and intelligent as we would
hope. It is normal (and almost sane) to be
demented most of the time. – SMALL PLEASURES:
A day at a time; with a special place for
modest pleasures: the sight of flowers, chocolate,
hot baths and very dark jokes with unshockable
friends. We come from a species that, in only
a few hundred thousand years, reached a dazzling
understanding of existence, built some stupendous
machines and learnt to think of itself as
in charge. We may need to accept the need
to feel, in the late hours, a little bit scared
– and for a time, very very small.
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