Too Much?

When the news, the politics, the social media posts, the trolling and all else has us feeling exhausted, we should remember that every generation also had its seasons of sighs from being overwhelmed. William Wordsworth’s poem The World is Too Much with Us was penned in 1807 and it reminds us that nothing is new under the sun. Here are the words:

“The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers,
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not.—Great God! I’d rather be
A pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.“

So, in 2024 when it all becomes too much, here are a few suggestions:
Unplug. Disconnect. Turn it off. Let the whirlwinds twirl St. Elsewhere. Breathe. Eat. Pray. Read. Write. Paint. Play good music. Dance. Breathe fresh air. Silence the phones. Journal. Nap. Choose how to participate or react or better still, do not re-act at all. Simply act by pushing the pause button and let the dark shadows float on by. And, then re-engage when the stamina has been raised and you feel that you are fortified enough to do so.

Lynn M.
July 27, 2024