HAUNTED BY WATERS: Why everyone should read "A River Runs Through It"

    For Norman and the Maclean family, fishing and church are the most sacred of all institutions. On the first page, Norman explains that there is very fine line between religion and fly-fishing in his family’s mind. They observe the act of fishing religiously and see the river as a cathedral of nature. The divinity of the river is unquestionable, as the words of God reside beneath the rocks. For Norman, and for other people as well, the act of fishing is akin to the act of religious healing. Not only does the inner family use it as a means to mend and maintain the bonds between them, but Norman’s extended family attempts to use it as medicine for his lost and drunken brother-in-law. Everyone seems to feel that if one can simply spend some time fishing, that all problems will set themselves straight as a result. After experiencing the poetry and reverence of Maclean’s words, his novella’s assertion is difficult to argue against. At the very least, Norman himself seems to constantly take nourishment from the waters, and to relish the peace that comes from the company of the river.

During their last fishing trip, Norman’s father asserts that “the Word” exists underneath everything else, even the water, out of which all life originally emerged. Because of the family’s deep reverence for the spiritual power of the river, it seems that the Word is referring to that of God. In that case, the novel seems to revel in the elaborate symbol it has created in the river. From the way it formed the canyons, a large glacial lake breaking free and crashing down out of the mountains, to the way it persists, unstoppable, to flow out through the scarred landscape over time, the river seems to symbolize the nature of life. It has the power to spawn and sustain all manner of life, but it also has the capacity for destruction. Either way, it continues to flow on, regardless of the obstacles it encounters; continually changing, but essentially, always the same. Perhaps it can be likened to Paul in that way, or at least Norman’s perspective of him, because even in death, he continues to exist in the river. Maclean searches for understanding, most notably, in his relationships, and he seems to find it again and again in the water. As he says toward the end of the novella, he wonders why when trying to help someone, he either offers them money or takes them fishing.

    The final words of the novella are “I am haunted by waters”. To haunt, means to continually seek the company of, to be continually present, to have a disquieting effect on something, and to recur spontaneously and constantly. This is interesting, considering the fact that this word choice really drives home the image of the river and its significance. The waters of the Blackfoot River haunt Norman, because for him, the waters hold all that is life. And life haunts us all, whether it be in the form of the past or the possibility of the future to come. Amongst the cascading ripples and the wet rocks, dwell the words of God, his father, his brother, and all the people who existed in his youth. It is only at the conclusion of his story that he is able to find understanding within the reflective pools of the Blackfoot River, and so in the memories of the relationships he experienced. Inevitably, we all find ourselves alone, and perhaps it is then that our existence appears the most transparent. The flow of our lives is, in many ways, like that of a river. We too tumble over concealed rocks and racing falls, continuously rushing forward into unknown perils, only pausing briefly to reflect upon the world. We run on, ever diverging, yet essentially remaining solid, and unchanging, like the rocks beneath the water.

Growing Up

when we were young, we were told

that we are all equal

that it does not matter what we look like on the outside

that we are loved unconditionally

that we treat others the way we want to be treated

that we forgive

that we do what is right, not what is easy

that money is not more important than people, art, or truth

that we are free

and we believed 

and when confronted with reality

we wept

and became disillusioned and angry

and they called us naive

when we grew up, we decided

that we should all be equal

that it should not matter what we look like on the outside

that we should love unconditionally

that we should treat others the way we want to be treated

that we should forgive

that we should do what is right, not what is easy

that money should not be more important than people, art, or truth

that we should be free

and they said we were nothing 

but children

and our ideals were inconvenient

unrealistic

and that we could not possibly

understand

we are the greatest species alive

in possession of the most advanced minds

and yet all we see 

is a people too preoccupied with killing 

one another over our difference in belief 

to see 

that we are all the same

that we could be 

exploring the boundaries 

of the Universe and our own minds

if only we could stand

together

side by side

Love is Newsworthy

I have never really liked watching the News, especially in the morning, because I feel like it ruins my mood for the entire day. It seems to reinforce the idea that evil abounds, its forces growing day by day, that people are inherently evil, that we have so much to fear. Not only do the reports of hatred and violence weigh heavily on my mind and spirit, but the injustices of it all, of our broken and corrupt social systems, make me angry. I feel as though I come away from every News experience more upset than informed.

It has occurred to me in the last year, that this is an epidemic. The Media chooses what to report upon, and they primarily focus on doom and gloom, because that's what sells a story. Because the Media is a facet of our society that permeates our entire lives, we are constantly bombarded with the general summation of violence, corruption, and injustice that occurs in the world each day. We are rarely, however, made to witness the ordinary, mundane, and overwhelmingly good actions, which take place far more frequently the world over each minute. From the truly inspiring and selfless acts of heroes, to those who risk their lives daily in the service and protection of others, to the constant toiling of public servants like teachers, who get little compensation and thanks, down the mother who feeds her children and sends them to school each day, there are millions of acts of kindness that go unnoticed, and a very small number (relatively) of hateful, horrible things which are the center of everyone's attention. The Media, and therefore our society, do not consider most acts of love to be "newsworthy".

I challenge us all to alter the perspective of the world and the people in it. I submit that the world is already a place made up, primarily, of acts of love and kindness, that for every negative and hateful action, there are a thousand positive and loving actions taking place each day. We should not collapse beneath the weight of fear-mongering and divisiveness. We must not give in to the force created by those who wish to tear us all apart. We cannot submit to the idea that our actions are pointless, and that we are all doomed. I believe that people are good, and that love prevails, and I think we could prove it and make everyone see that love is the overwhelming sentiment in the world over, not hatred. Take heart.

Focus on the million little acts of kindness, and examples of beauty around you every day. Let's make our own news. To me, it's noteworthy when people help each other, when they build things, when they communicate and come together, when they love, and grow, and create. I think that together, we could shift our perspective and focus, as a society, toward the good in ourselves and the world around us.

Let us not despair in the acts of terror that are aimed at tearing us apart. Let us not give that power to those who wreak havoc and attempt to instill fear. If we work to spread a message of love and unity, and to focus on and perpetuate kindness in our everyday lives, in this way, love shall overcome.

I challenge you to report acts of love and kindness, no matter how small, and to bring focus to those around us who are doing positive things. If we all relayed these kinds of things to each other each day, I think we would be met with a wave of love and positivity, and ultimately motivation, rather than despair. Perhaps then, those who seek to ignite fear and hatred would find less fuel.

To this end, I have started a Facebook Newspaper page called LoveisNewsworthy @bethechangenews, which focuses on stories about people helping other people, doing positive and inspiring things, from the fantastic to the mundane. Please become a member of the page, share it with your friends, and contribute! As always, thanks for reading! 

We are responsible for the world in which we find ourselves, if only because we are the only sentient force which can change it. - james baldwin

To endeavor to create and maintain a free society is no easy task. To do so, we must balance our own freedoms and rights with those of all others, and often that means compromise. The problem is that we tend to forget that there are many kinds of freedom, primarily, freedom to, and freedom from. As a society we believe that people should have the freedom to do most things, except when it infringes upon the rights of other people, and often this is much more complicated than we think. We forget that we also believe that people should have the freedom from things like tyranny, slavery, persecution, violence, and living in fear. In order to balance the rights and freedoms of everyone involved in a society, we must make compromises. Being a part of a mutually beneficial society doesn't always allow for total and absolute freedom, and as realistic adults we need to be able to accept that.

This brings me to the 2nd Amendment. Before I begin, I'd like to point out that I am, and will always be, a staunch defender of the right to bear arms. I grew up shooting, and hunting, and I own guns now. The right for individuals to defend themselves, and for citizens of a nation to protect themselves against the powers of a tyrannical government should not be taken lightly, nor should they ever be taken away. That being said, the essential right of citizens to protect themselves must also be balanced with the right of citizens to feel safe. In light of the onslaught of violence in recent years, is not unthinkable for us, as citizens, to demand that measures be taken to keep us safe from gun violence in public spaces, and to insure that our children feel safe, and are protected from gun violence in school.

If we truly fear for our own personal protection, then by all means, we should keep guns in a responsible, law-abiding manner. If we truly fear for our rights as citizens against an unjust government, then the answer is to be more sentient citizens, not to hunker down and refuse any rational discussion of change. The more involved we are in our government, the more we protect ourselves from the threat of tyranny. It is admirable that we rise to defend our right to arms so passionately, but it cannot be the only right we care to maintain. We talk of the entitlement of children, and yet we, as adults, fully expect the government to function, and fully expect to benefit from its functioning, without our input, our work, our participation, or our tax money. If we want the government to work for us, we must work for it, for ourselves. If we want to see that our rights are protected, we must be vigilant citizens watching over, and taking part in, our own governance. One cannot simply sit back and refuse to participate in a difficult discussion, and think themselves a champion of basic rights. To be a sentient, vigilant citizen requires more than that. To create solutions, there must be communication, and compromise.

Surely we are mature and intelligent enough to discuss ways in which we might make our society safer? Surely we can, at the very least, entertain a real discussion about restricting dangerous, irresponsible, unhealthy citizens from gaining access to weapons of mass murder? We need to be able to discuss it, if we have any hope of salvation.

While it is true that people kill people, the easiest way for them to accomplish it is with guns. If we can limit the wrong people from accessing the potential for mass violence, we can help protect the lives of innocent citizens. Limiting the wrong people from getting guns is not the same thing as attacking rightful, legal gun ownership. Identifying that easy access to guns for unstable and violent people is a problem that is causing a lot of violence, is not the same thing as blaming guns for causing the violence directly. If you are capable of legally owning and using a gun, it's not that difficult to prove, and it still wouldn't be very difficult to get a gun. Asking people to prove that they are healthy, capable, and responsible enough to own a gun, is not unreasonable given a gun's capacity for violence.  The simple fact remains: people kill people, and they do it primarily with guns. Is it crazy for us, as a society, to sit down and agree upon some rules and regulations that might limit individual crazy people from buying guns and mowing down large swaths of sane, innocent people?

So far, no one is proposing that we limit sane, responsible gun ownership in any way. No one is even claiming that responsible gun owners are to blame. What is being proposed, is limitations on gun ownership for the mentally unstable, for those with documented violence in their past, for those that break the law. What is being proposed, is that we make sure people aren't unfit to own a gun, through a series of certifications, regulations, and a background check. I had to consent to a background check to rent my house, I feel like it's not really asking that much to require the same when I buy a gun. Many of the restrictions proposed would be similar to those involved in car ownership. Certainly we have the right to own and drive a car, but first we must prove we are able to drive a car, and that we understand the laws and practices necessary to safe and legal driving. We need training, a license, car registration, liability insurance. We are required to wear a safety belt, and to refrain from drinking and texting. We are subject to policing, fines, and arrest if we violate these laws and regulations. Nobody goes around worrying that government is trying to take away our cars, or our rights, as responsible, licensed, healthy citizens, to drive. That would be absurd.

I feel like it's symbolic of the problems in our society, that our first response to gun violence in schools is to suggest arming teachers. We have bake sales, mill levies, parent/teacher contributions, and box tops collections in order to keep the sad, drowning excuse for public education in our society afloat. We refuse to funnel any legitimate amount of tax funding into education, and then we point to its brokenness as a reason not to fund it. We expect that schools and teachers can then prepare our children for the world, that they can educate and inspire them to greater heights than we have so far managed to accomplish? We expect that they have the resources to help those students in need, and to make sure that anyone feeling lost, abused, angry, broken, or violent might be helped before they hurt anyone else? It's irrational for us to expect these things from schools and teachers when we put so little into supporting them. We are reaping the consequences of our indifference toward our own education, and toward each other, every day. A well supported educational system would be a multi-faceted investment that would ripple across our society in a powerful way. It could also provide the types of social and mental health support systems that we desperately need for our children, and our citizens in the long term. We must also realize that as parents, it is our responsibility to shoulder a huge portion of our children's education at home, especially social, sexual, and moral education. It cannot be expected that schools will raise our children for us, especially if we don't fund them, or participate in their preservation and function.

Perhaps the problem is that we do not value education enough to invest in it. Perhaps the problem is that, as a society, we teach our children to strive for personal advancement and preservation, no matter the cost to others. Perhaps it is because we think that it is acceptable to abandon half the members our society to poverty, violence, old age, and despair; that we will be the stronger for it, the richer; that it won't affect all of us, if some of us fail and are left behind. But, I digress...

To be sure, there are many changes that need to be made to prevent mass gun violence in our society. We must pursue them all. Remembering that living in a society is a complicated thing, full of compromise and reward, we must attempt to come together to solve these problems. They cannot be ignored any longer.

A different world cannot be built by indifferent people...

Our greatest enemy is apathy. Not the apathy of others, but the apathy of ourselves. When we foster the belief, inside of ourselves, that the things we do make no difference in the world, we create a self-fulfilling prophecy which serves to kill our hope and motivation. When we choose to believe that an individual can make no impact, that our presence or participation within the political system, or the world, doesn't matter, that our actions are inconsequential, then we do a great disservice to ourselves and our world. The only way anything is ever accomplished is through the actions of individual people. While it may be true that people working together can create a much larger impact and result, the fact remains that every accomplishment begins with a single action. 

Take George Bailey for example. The film It's a Wonderful Life provides an excellent example of the impact one person can have on the world. In case you've never seen this classic, Jimmy Stewart plays a character who, after enduring many disappointing bouts of bad luck and perceived failures, questions whether everyone in his life would be better off had he never existed. His guardian angel then allows him to see what the world would have been like had he never been born. Ultimately, he sees that he has positively affected everyone around him, that he's saved lives, and enabled success, and enriched the town in which he grew up. Although others have gone on to achieve grand things while he has been resigned to a small life, his actions have enabled their achievements, and his small concentrated efforts have made a much larger impact on the world around him overall. If you've never seen it, I recommend watching it at least once. It will inspire you to feel less inconsequential in the real world.

Films aside, this truth still remains. Our actions affect everyone around us in ways we could never begin to fathom. Every journey begins with a single step. You may not feel as though the things you do can possibly have any effect on the state of the world, but imagine the billion (at least) other people on the planet feel the same way, and then imagine if each of them did one small, good thing, how much one billion small, good things would affect the world. People are largely doing good things each day the world over. For the most part, we all take care of ourselves and our families, maintain our homes and surrounding communities, pay our taxes, try to improve our lives, and these things are all good, and keep the world moving forward. Imagine if we all expanded the good we do each day by just a few small acts, how much we could accomplish overall.

It is possible to change the world. But it will never happen if we keep expecting someone else to do all the work to achieve the things we, ourselves, want. We all complain about the state of "things", and disparage the political system, and curse the world. How many of us spend any portion of our free time striving to change the things we deem ill in it? How many of us change the way we live in order to accommodate our ideals rather than our laziness? If we don't stop choosing what is easy over what is right, things are never going to change.

In the end, we can only control our own actions, and therefore, we must be the change we want to see. If you don' t like the way the world is, then you can only begin to change it by being better  yourself and hoping it influences others to the same end. If you don't like the way the government functions, then get involved in the political process, read, vote, run for office. The government, and the world, are made up of people. They are us. So if we don't like it, let's change it. 

Real change is never easy, but nothing worthwhile is ever easily attained. Try to do something active and helpful. Be involved with trying to create solutions. Donate, volunteer, vote, think, give, love, try to understand. Read the whole article, do the research, be politically active (even though it seems exhausting), talk about the real issues (even when it creates tension), argue, and stand up in the streets, and fight for a better way. Stop abiding laziness in our government, in each other, in ourselves. I think we can all do better than this. The first step is to kill the apathy within ourselves.