Land vs. People
In the midst of this period of uncertainty as a country, as a people and as a land, there has been a lot of noise and talk on the main stream media and social networks about what makes up the red vs. blue. Is it the land vs. people? Various maps have been created to show the United States as redder vs. bluer vs. specs of red dotting the vast western states vs. the bluer coasts, etc. All the pundits and experts are expressing their opinions about what matters more…the popular vote vs. the electoral college. An entire swath of coastal populations think they matter more than the populations in the great sparse western states and the rural heartland of America. Technically being educated or feeling elite and more sophisticated seems to be giving the urban/suburban folks a sense that they know better than anyone else.
I find it very amusing. Where would these cities be in terms of prosperity and sustenance without the hard work and efforts of our fellow citizens that live in the heartland growing and raising our food, supporting our infrastructure and the very foundation of the high standard of living we as Americans enjoy compared to many places around the world?
Could a single coastal elite toil the soil, harvest our subsistence, build real tangible things and work hard as hard can be with relatively low income and a low return? These folks are subject to mafia type environments by the large food supply companies and other global corporations that are headquartered again in the big cities oriented towards profits at any cost. Be it monopolizing the farmers, ignoring the real needs of so many of our fellow citizens or simply going for cheap labor wherever they can find it and at any cost with little or no regard again for the well being of existing co-ops or those employed.
The pendulum swings and it swings both ways. Balance is so key for a pendulum to go back and forth with consistent timing to make an old clock work. Anytime, there is an imbalance of any kind, something will give.
The same holds for the balance between the Land and the People that live on that Land. The Land matters as without this glorious precious land of ours, the United States of America would simply not exist as the world’s most powerful democracy and a grand symbol of the Infinite Potential that all of us have to achieve, to grow and seek perfection, redemption and bliss.
As many of you know, the state of New Mexico has been known and promoted as the Land of Enchantment. This enchantment comes largely from the geology, the topography, the climate and the natural beauty of a land that is so. I like to think that our entire land of this great country is enchanted and so are the people that live on it, be it in a remote town in the mountains of Montana, a ranch in West Texas or a beach town on the Louisiana coast. The Land Matters. This Land being represented Matters. So, paint it any color you want - it ain’t gonna really matter.
Mindfulness is not exclusive that only applies to coastal elites who attend fancy meditation centers and act enlightened and “better” than maybe a simple minded cowboy from Southwest Colorado who may not know the ways of eastern thought but is focused on understanding his herd of cattle, their needs from him or the land they graze on. To me that is mindfulness too.
As you know from my definition of mindfulness, it is the Art of Focus with Full Awareness. That applies to those that attend to our land and provide subsistence and sustenance to all of us in our country.
The coastal naysayers who have lost touch with who we are as a Land, better look within as perhaps they are the ones that are truly lost in their empty and elevated notions of themselves as People who matter more than the Land.
The Land Matters.
Be Mindful.