It's a Libra World

I have a few places in the neighborhood where I put bottles and cans that I gather so the homeless with carts can add them to their recycling stash. This diorama struck me as likely to make for a decent composition.

I'm living in a Libra world this morning, going back and forth between light and dark, always struggling to find the beauty amidst the ugly, yearning for balance.  For example, on the one hand, alcohol provides great spice to life--I would choose the guzzlers of Ireland over the ascetics of Saudi Arabia any day. On the other hand, alcoholism does horrific damage to most afflicted with it and many of those around them.  On yet another hand, it gave birth to AA, which is one of the coolest spiritual systems ever devised. On a fourth hand, a small percentage of those who need to actually do get and stay sober.

I despise the politics of the right that have brought us George Bush and America on her  knees. At the same time, I don't think anything short of Bush could have brought us Obama--the country needed to have the crap kicked out of it to be ready for this kind of change, and I can't imagine our future without it.  (I heard an undecided  voter on NPR talking about how we didn't need "rightwing or leftwing agendas"  How the hell did health care, a green economy, a getting out of a war get cast as some sort of ideological "agenda?")

I'm personally feeling good about life, but physically still recuperating from the sinusitis and not feel very robust. I'm finding it hard to find any theme for this entry as my outlook is entirely schizoid.  The world is a wonderful terrible place and I sometimes feel a little overwhelmed by it all. It feels selfish and self-centered to be happy when there's so much suffering in the world. 

Viggo Mortenson turned 50 today. If that's not hopeful, I don't know what it.

MCO 2008