Peace and quiet.

After several days of running around, doing this and that, never slowing down but rushing from one distraction to another, I suddenly realized I didn't have any idea what I was doing, My head was in a whirl. I sat down at my computer and my brain simply died, I didn't know if I was supposed to check email, post on Facebook or balance the bank account.

So...I took today to catch up. I went to the barn early, shared a breath with Josie and took a few minutes without distractions to get my head in order.

Amazing what those few minutes did. My blood pressure went down, my heart quit pounding and suddenly, a plan formed in my head of how to get everything on my to-do list done.

My mom always said the same thing about putting her hands in the soil. Immediate relief from the stresses of life. A friend of mine quilts. Others do cross-stitch or paint. Whatever it is that gives you peace, I hope you find it. I wish for you a few quiet moments and the relief they bring.

Evil without color.

It wasn't until I began to really study the history of the Indigenous people of North America that I was able to wrap my head around "systemic racism". The color of a person's skin has no impact on my feelings/attitude towards them so I couldn't understand how anyone could say that our entire "system" was racist. But having focused on this thing we call racism for the last three years working on my book, I see now that it is, in fact, deeply entrenched in our society. All of our society. But I can't accept the term racism for its name. I prefer to call it "differentism".

All individuals, from amoebas to redwoods, are driven to pass their own unique being, their genetic identity, to the future. It would take too long to cover the process for every organism, so I'll focus on just a few. Male lions often kill the cubs of another lion in order to force the lioness to become sexually receptive, giving him a greater chance of impregnating her and passing on his unique genes. The alpha wolf pair of a pack gets more food and produces more offspring. The alpha stallion has a larger harem of mares and the alpha mare defends her right to the best food and water in their territory. Her offspring benefit from her premium access and often become alphas themselves. A dominant individual tends to be more "successful" in the world. I believe the drive to be dominant is what fuels much of what society considers "bad" or criminal behavior. Is it possible it also fuels what is too often called racism?

I get that if a white person acts to belittle, repress, hold back a person of another color, it is considered racism. Sometimes, it's even called white racism. What do we call it if a black person belittles, represses or holds back a person of another color? What if both parties are the same color? In a school setting, we'd call it bullying, but is it racism?

I was elated to see that thousands of people across America honored the wishes of Tyre Nichol's mother and protested peacefully for justice. I couldn't help but hope that for once, America saw evil without color. Five evil men attacked another man. Forget color. I was so disappointed when commentators began reporting it as racism...five black men had somehow absorbed white racism and taken it out on another black man.

I don't accept that.

It was evil..........pure and simple. These five men wanted to assert their dominance over another man...defeat him, put him down so that they were the "lions' of their neighborhood. Whether it be through cruelty, force or deceit, many people will use any means to be dominant in today's world.

Rest in peace, Tyre. You were obviously a talented artist and a good person. Perhaps, one day, humanity will no longer be driven to dominate those who are different.

So those who can, teach.

But, who chooses what the learner needs to know?

As I ponder my own "best" teachers, I find they were the ones who taught me something of value later in life. A modern quote says there would be no other professions if it weren't for teachers. After all, they teach the doctors, lawyers and Indian chiefs. Or do they? Aren't our parents our first teachers? Shouldn't they be? Teachers have a huge, humongous, astronomical amount of influence over our children.

Perhaps too many parents have given up their right (duty) as their children's first teachers. By default, they've simply handed that privilege over to others in school systems across the country.

It doesn't take much effort (historically) to find a people who can tell you what happens when others take control of what your children learn. It wasn't their choice to sacrifice their children. But they can tell you the result.