“Every human community will disappoint us, regardless of how well-intentioned or inclusive.” – Nadia Bolz-Weber

It’s Sunday and I just returned from Canada. I had a meeting up there, eh. (Sorry about that. I took my husband and my son and it was literally five days of quotes from “Strange Brew.” Our dog has been renamed Hoser and they have not yet lost their adopted accents, nor do they intend to). We flew out on Election night. It was snowing when we took off. The beginning of a 5-day snowpocalypse in Denver that we completely missed, because we went to Canada. The irony is not lost.

Last night, I wrote the agenda for today:

Sleep in. Read the paper. Clean out the refrigerator and freezer, restock with appropriate groceries. Catch up on emails and bills. Prepare my mind for Monday.

The first interruption to this well-played schedule was all of the lights coming on and the alarm going off in the middle of the night. The electricity apparently went out and when it came back online, the Phillips HUE system went crazy. Also, the ADT panel went crazy, even though we don’t use ADT and never have. I am told that the thing is hard-wired to the inner workings of our house and to disconnect it would require that we tear it down (the whole house). Fine, ADT has to stay. I asked my husband “Is there not a way to program the HUE so it remembers its setting BEFORE the electricity is lost (like “OFF”, hello)?” “Nope. That’s the downside to the HUE. Can’t do that.” If you know anybody that works for HUE and controls the APP, please fix this. This is dumb. Bottom line: My schedule was disrupted before it even started.

I did manage to go back to sleep. I woke up at 8. For me, that is sleeping in. Box checked. Next, I read the paper. It was filled with all of the things a paper is filled with. Still, I love to read a paper and I always try to filter out stories that will change my life from ones that will shorten it. Box checked. I walked into the kitchen for a second cup of coffee and began the clean-out task. The refrigerator was easy – mold, bye-bye. I moved onto the freezer, where I incessantly add pieces of meat in freezer bags. Sometimes I am wise and engrave a date, but mostly it’s a game of meat roulette: Choose-A-Bag. It might be freezer-burnt, it might not be chicken, it probably won’t kill you but will taste like it will. I vow to STOP putting extra meat in the freezer. This is not a process that works for me and my household. I probably shouldn’t even own a freezer. Note to self, get rid of freezer and ADT. I guess the house has to go for the ADT to go, so that will also take care of the freezer by default. Box checked.

I got all of those things done. But, I kept thinking about this past week and how it felt to be in Canada and then return to the U.S. And two words popped into my head: Peace and Inclusivity. I have no idea why. When you like to write, things like this pop up all of the time and you are supposed to honor that. A favorite author of mine, Anne Lamott, tells writers to carry index cards for just this reason. Ideas pop in and if you don’t record them, they float right back out to the next person who is ready to receive them. Well, I don’t want my idea stolen by a person who just happens to be more ready to receive it, so when Peace and Inclusivity pop into my head, I abandon the grocery list and come here.

“You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realizing who you are at the deepest level” – Eckhart Tolle

Canada was nice. I haven’t travelled a lot, but I have been to Denmark and it reminded me of Denmark. The drivers were unaggressive. They drove in the right lane(s) and meandered into the left only to pass. Speeding didn’t appear to be a thing. I love their crosswalks. All lanes of traffic stop and pedestrians can cross any which way they want. Seems safer, although I haven’t studied the data. I also love their signs – the “Slippery when Wet” sign is a person literally falling to their death with an “Oh, Shit!” expression on their face. Their exit signs don’t say “Exit”, but instead show a person running really fast toward the stairs. I don’t know why, but I find their signs simpler, more entertaining and less verbose. Plus, it’s just fun to laugh over signs. We all need more levity in our lives. We take ourselves too seriously in the U.S.

So, coming back from Canada with an election hangover (for just under 50% of us – the other just over 50% are coming off an election high) begs some questions. For as long as humans have lived on this earth, we have been nomadic. We don’t relate to it much here in America, because for the past 150 years we have mostly stayed put. “I’m from Kansas, so…well, I’m from Kansas.” But humans have been moving around the globe for all time. They seek better food, water, weather, caves. They seek people, environments, landscapes and hardscapes that will sustain their lives to their end, with a minimal amount of hardship. Let’s not lose sight of the big picture. We can pretty much move anywhere we want. We are not stuck. But, remember what Nadia warned us about: Every human community will disappoint us, regardless of how well-intentioned or inclusive. And then Eckhart reminded us that we won’t find peace by rearranging the circumstances in our life.

Peace and inclusivity. Who can argue against them? They are boundless and infinite and positive and loving. Like crosswalks at intersections that allow you to cross any which way you like. I support your journey to wherever it is you are headed, as long as it is filled with a path toward peace. I’ll be here for awhile, fighting for funnier, more universal signs and for crosswalks that allow people to cross whichever way they need to go. Also, if you can fix that HUE thing? You will be my hero, complete with a cape and everything.