Fragile Existence

Today I am grateful for conversations with friends and colleagues. They show their courage and vulnerability and it helps me show mine. 

There is a kind of tension between the carefree nature and precarious existence that are both embodied by living things. An ant can carry a treasure far heavier than itself back to the colony, or be squished underfoot by a size 10 shoe. Humans can build airplanes that fly 30,000 feet in the air and ride them for thousands of miles, and we can die from a tiny virus. 

Our existence is fragile. We would rather not see it that way, but it's true. Maybe it is a truth we need to consider more often. Fragile items and living things are handled with precious care. People deserve precious care, for themselves and one another. 

There are many things in the natural world that share this same fragile existence. One became the subject of my poem-a-day poem yesterday:

The answer is yes. A person declaring their love for another for the first time. The embryo that begins our lives. A butterfly emerging from a chrysalis. Near misses on the freeway. Picking up the phone instead of a pile of pills. Life is precious. Life is fragile. With humble dignity, let us care for ourselves, one another, and this planet.