It amazes me how closely non-Americans are following the 2020 election. Everyone is watching, waiting and anticipating. They all have deep and thoughtful opinions on the outcome of the 2020 US presidential election.

It’s a reminder of how prolific American culture and influence is around the world.

Explaining what happened and why it happened is useful.

Providing insights on what is going to happen and why, is valuable

Feeling hopeful for November 3, 2020.

Human beings suffer,
they torture one another,
they get hurt and get hard.
No poem or play or song
can fully right a wrong
inflicted and endured.

The innocent in gaols
beat on their bars together.
A hunger-striker’s father
stands in the graveyard dumb.
The police widow in veils
faints at the funeral home

History says, Don’t hope
on this side of the grave.
But then, once in a lifetime
the longed for tidal wave
of justice can rise up,
and hope and history rhyme.

So hope for a great sea-change
on the far side of revenge.
Believe that a further shore
is reachable from here.
Believe in miracles
and cures and healing wells.

Call the miracle self-healing:
The utter self-revealing
double-take of feeling.
if there’s fire on the mountain
or lightning and storm
and a god speaks from the sky.

That means someone is hearing
the outcry and the birth-cry
of new life at its term.

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.

I wonder if there’s a correlation between societies that care for the environment and low Covid numbers.

Caring for the environment is about looking after future generations and less about the short term benefits. Improvements to the environment will help out our grandchildren more than they help us. But it means sacrificing short term conveniences and investing in the future with no short term returns.

Covid is the same. Wearing a mask, staying home if you are sick, getting tested in case you are asymptomatic is more about looking after others than looking after yourself. Selfish people don’t care and don’t respect the rules to protect the vulnerable.

Selfish societies are all about the individual. Selfless societies are about something greater than the individual.

Maybe countries with Covid numbers are full of selfish people.

Some things in life are priceless. No amount of money can buy them back because they aren’t for sale:

Carefree childhoods

Memories of family holidays

The love for family dogs and cats

Controlling our time

Physical and mental health

Old friendships

The bonds we form with our grandparents, parents and siblings

Spending time with our kids

The older I get the harder it is to remember who I’m supposed to hold a grudge against. It’s way better just to forget and move on.

I learned a new word today that described someone’s spending habits.

Parsimonious – very unwilling to spend money or use resources.
“even the parsimonious Joe paid for drinks all round”

The combination of being burned out and bored is a creativity killer for talented & creative people. It’s a pitiful existence but it’s also a hard cycle to break. Misery loves company and you forget the way out.

Snap out of it and get the hell out of Dodge. Take a break, rejuvenate and start something new. The creativity will flow and the joy of work will return.

Glowing jacarandas

Start your day by asking who you can be in service to. Be in service to your colleagues, community, family, animals or the environment.

Instead of asking what can you get from the day, ask what can you give to the day.

That small shift is energizing and will change your perspective on success and and your daily accomplishments.

“Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country,”

JFK