Becca Faith Yoga

I very seldom turn on the news.  The news is 1) poorly written, 2) often vapid, and 3) depressing.

Today I made an exception.  This morning I had to leave the apartment early to teach on the UWS, but I woke up even earlier than earliness required, so I had some extra time.  Let’s see what’s happening in the world, I thought, Let’s watch the news.

Of course, whenever we’ve had WEATHER, the news becomes totally obsessed.  The storm yesterday was no exception.  Newspersons are charged with the noble task of reporting on that which is occurring directly outside viewers’ windows.  It’s an important job, and they know it.  So after a big WEATHER event, I imagine newspersons get a bit depressed.  They’ve gone from being immensely important to being…persons on the news. Hm.

“Joining us now is Suzy Weatherkins, reporting on conditions for this morning’s commute.  Suzy?”

“Good morning, Bob.”

“Good morning, Suzy.”

“Good morning.  Road crews have been working around the clock trying to prepare the streets for this morning’s commute.  New Yorkers have to traverse a number of obstacles after a WEATHER event, and I’d like to show you some of what you might encounter on your way into the office this morning.  As you know, plows sweep snow onto the side of the road, and it piles up at the corners. [Walks to a corner] The snow gets densely packed, creating a ‘snow mountain.’  You can see how dense it is [kicks mountain], so you can be sure this will hang around for a couple days. Once you climb over The Mountain, you’ll have to face what we call the ‘Slush Ocean’…”

Oh, Suzy.

The truth is, while it may seem silly and vapid, this morning’s newscast epitomized a pattern that traps us each in turn.  Something happens, and it’s really really big when it’s happening, and then it stops happening, but our reaction stays really really big anyway, even though nothing is actually going on and we’re okay. I think part of this phenomenon has to do with the fact that we all really want to be seen.  We want to know that people care about what’s happening in our lives, and we want people to listen to what we have to say.  So we cling to what happens, and we hang on for dear life.  Even when hanging on is stressful or hurtful or harrowing, we cling nonetheless.

You probably didn’t make a snowball and stash it away in your freezer on the off-chance that we won’t get more snow this winter, and in much the same way, we can allow that which is past to thaw, melt, slide down a sewage drain, and eventually join the ocean.

Not the Slush Ocean. The real ocean.

This weekend, New York (and much of the East Coast) will be a drippy, melty mess.  No one will notice if you kick off a chunk of whatever mountain you’ve been freezing and throw it into the mix with everything else.

Bon weekend!