Definition: a state of great commotion, disturbance, confusion or uncertainty.
also: tumult, agitation, disquiet, mental turmoil caused by difficult decisions.
I have found that each week as I prepare myself to start thinking about what I will write for my class and my blog, it has become increasingly difficult to concentrate upon the subjects we are given. There is nothing wrong with the subjects, which are felt to be of general interest to everyone in the group.
No, it is me, and the constant awareness of the turmoil going on all about us, in our homes, our schools, the constant communication we bombard ourselves with wherever we go.
The turmoil that we feel in our lives when we are faced with the decision of accepting the new way of looking at the world when inside myself I still remember how I was brought up to think about the other persons feelings as well as my own. I was taught to show respect for my elders, and for people of authority. If I didn’t agree with them and often I didn’t, I avoided or ignored the situation as best I could.
I would never use the word “turmoil” as a constant in that long ago world because I was taught and shown that there could be a better way of accomplishing our goals. Now I look back in praise at my parents who never let me feel the turmoil that did exist in the world at that time. Because of course, there was turmoil, plenty of it. But the heros and heroines that I admired were the people that could talk eloquently about problems and inspire us to try to fix them.
Familiarity breeds contempt. With the advent of constant communication we now know way too much about the people who we used to admire from afar. We are left with the constant feeling that there is no one left that is truly honest, or careful or compassionate.
The Golden Rule, which is the ultimate law of decency, has been left by the wayside. No one has ever been able to live only by its law of love, but at least it was a goal.
According to the dictionary there are different kinds of turmoil: emotional, economic, and physical. Right now our country seems to be going thru them all at one time. Turmoil is not good for us, and not good for our children either.
And it is not good for me. I feel like I am writing of a long ago time thru the lens of today. And ignoring todays turmoil becomes extremely difficult. You probably wonder why I don’t just ignore it all at my advanced age. I can go on writing about peace and love and sunshine, and nothing is going to change anyhow.
That is the turmoil, the longing for our children to have heroes and heroines to look up to and admire for their stalwart character. I can’t change my life or my misdeeds such as they may have been, but I can tell the children “there has to be a better way than this.”
“Turmoil” is a word that describes our world right now. So what do I do about it? Retreat from the world? Ignore the commotion? Hide my head in the sand? I don’t know. I only know that the Golden Rule still works. My problem seems to be that it is difficult to find enough people who are willing to follow it. And it is still harder to write about olden times when today we are all being besieged by “turmoil”.