Repair

Recently, there have been moments when I consider how overwhelmed I am by the external events playing out around me. I imagine selling the house and moving to Costa Rica or Portugal and living out my life reading, writing and watching sunrises and sunsets without fear. But then I was reminded, at a friend’s daughter’s Bat Mitzvah, that I am a part of a tribe, of ancestors who came before me, as well as those in my current life, my mother and her wife, my ?two adult nieces and one of their children, my 13 year-old great-niece.

I remember my wide-eyed belief in my youth that I would be change in the world. I believed that often misattributed quote, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” What Gandi actually said was, “If we change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change.” I was an adult before I read the whole quote which ends with “…We need not wait to see what others do.”

So, I will not run and hide, nor will I stop trying to follow the words of Lubavitcher Rebbe. "If you see what needs to be repaired and how to repair it, then you have found a piece of the world that God has left for you to complete.” I may not be able to fix everything, but I can repair the things that I know how to mend and rebuild. I can continue to show up for people in my life and in my community. I can listen to people who I may not always agree with but who are alone, unheard and often voiceless. I can be hopeful that, even if I cannot change the world, I can change my small piece of it. Perhaps it is a foolish belief, but optimism is better than despair.