And I was reminded of a truth, pertinent to my post of yesterday dealing with the time of despair, anger, and anxiety in which we live. And how desperately those of us who are aware and care want to ‘fix’ it. To make everything better.

We can’t. Not today, not in this hour or this minute. Sometimes you can’t get from point A to point B quickly. Or directly. Or in a straight line. Let alone get to point Z. Sometimes you just have to trust a process. And sail with the wind, controlling what you can control, with your own mind and body in your own boat.

Sometimes you must trust a process, a belief. A day-to-day, one foot in front of the other way of being. It may be a process known only to you. Or to you and an old oak. Or a twisted cedar. Or a sunflower. Or a sailboat. A way of being that allows you to still grow, survive, and endure. Even in the midst of hardship. Anxiety. Even tragedy.

I have a good friend who is a wonderful painter. She loves to paint and it means a great deal to her. And others love her paintings. Yesterday she said she has not painted anything in over a year. Too spiritually exhausted from ‘fighting fascism.’ I know that exhaustion. You probably do, too. But the not-painting—that is unacceptable. It is not OK.

Naomi, you must paint. You must be who you are. The world needs you to do so, and so do your friends. And so does your soul. It matters not if a paining is a part of the battle. In fact, it should probably not be. Beauty and self-expression are their own ‘weapon’ and have their own integrity. We need human beings to do good, normal, human things. Te BE human.

The battle will still be there if we step away. And no amount of minute-to-minute attention or personal anxiety or outrage is going to win it. In fact, with the resultant exhaustion and despair, the opposite is true. These words are, of course, meant for myself as well. We each grasp the tiller of our own boat. We each endure and grow and survive as best we can, according to our own nature, our own strengths and weaknesses and gifts.

We need to be human beings doing real, human things—every one of us sailing our own boat as skillfully and intentionally as possible—each of us an example, perhaps an inspiration, to other sailors.

And… we must each paint our own painting, as it were. Adding a little something to the beauty of the world. For in doing so, we help to expose and defeat the ugliness.