Whispering Wyrd

It was cold and windy yesterday as I took my daily walk. Very cold. But unless the weather is utterly unbearable, I walk. I even walk in the rain here. For me, there’s just something about being in and surrounded by the mountains that heals me and clears my mind.

After I complete my rounds of Niànzhū (Buddhist prayer beads), I use the rest of my walk to simply contemplate. I look at the beauty around me and feel how fortunate I am to be here, still alive after benzo withdrawal and everything else I’ve survived. I feel blessed to have my family. The walks also give me a chance to work through anything that might be going on in my life. I simply don’t feel as well on days I miss a walk, so I go pretty much regardless of the weather.

Something that I’ve been thinking a lot about in recent days is how divided people seem right now. Religion, politics, culture, even families. It feels intense and it feels overwhelming. And sometimes it feels like everyone is yelling and no one is listening.

But honestly? I don’t think division itself is anything new.

History is full of it. Wars have been fought over beliefs. Families have been split apart over differences. Entire civilizations rose and fell while arguing over who was right and who was wrong. All throughout history.

What is new is the way we experience it. We literally carry it around in our pockets now.

Social media and news feeds don’t just show us what’s happening, they show us carefully selected versions of reality, tailored to confirm whatever side we already lean toward. Add anonymity to that mix, and suddenly people say things online they would never say face to face.

Someone a little older than me recently said during a conversation, “We didn’t talk to people like that back in the day because they’d get punched in the face.”

Crude maybe, but true.

There used to be an immediate human consequence for cruelty. Today, there’s just a screen. And when there’s a screen between us, it becomes easier to forget there’s a real person on the other side. Someone with fears. Someone with wounds. Someone with a story we know nothing about.

I’ll be honest, all of this gets to me sometimes. Especially on days when my heart is messing up and my nervous system feels raw. But that’s exactly when I come back to my daily walks. To my beads. To the mountains. To breathing. To remembering what actually matters.

Out there, surrounded by wind and sky and quiet, none of the shouting exists. There’s just life. A raven calling from overhead. Clouds drifting over the mountain peaks. My own footsteps on the trail.

And in those moments, something softens inside me. I can feel it, I can feel tension leaving my body.

I remember that every person I might be frustrated with is also trying to survive something. I remember that everyone is carrying something heavy we don’t see. I think about how showing  kindness is not weakness, it’s courage.

Spirituality, for me, isn’t about having the “right” beliefs or winning arguments. It’s about remembering our shared humanity. It’s about choosing compassion even when it would be easier to harden. It’s about listening more than speaking. It’s about noticing beauty even when the world gets loud. It’s about doing no harm, to others or to ourselves.

Some days, just getting through the day is the practice. Some days, choosing not to lash out at someone is the practice. Some days, putting one foot in front of the other on a cold, windy trail is the practice.

And sometimes, the most radical thing we can do is simply stay open-hearted in a world that keeps trying to close us down and divide us.

If you’re reading this and feeling overwhelmed by everything going on, please know you’re not alone.

Take a breath.
Go outside if you can.
Look at something alive.
Be kind to your nervous system.
Be kind to yourself.

The world doesn’t need any more outrage. It needs more gentleness. More listening. More remembering that we are all human after all.

That’s what I try to concentrate on during my walks. And today, I’m offering it to you too.

Amituofo
~Buck