From Exhaustion to Hopelessness

It's about more than feeling broke

Sep 28, 2023

Today I received a post from Ted Bauer, a writer whose work I follow and admire. The post was entitled, “The $233,000 Problem: The Exhaustion Of Everyone Feeling Broke AF.”

The main point of this piece was, “More than 2,500 US adults said they would need to earn, on average, $233,000 a year to feel financially secure and $483,000 annually to feel rich or to attain financial freedom, according to a new survey from Bankrate.”

While I appreciate what Ted has to say, I believe the issue transcends money. It speaks to the heart of how our species sees itself in relation to the planet, other living creatures, and one another. I believe if we hope to survive, a radical shift is required. I responded in comments and NOTES to Ted, but my point is: “You talk about the exhaustion of everyone feeling broke. Let's talk about what happens after exhaustion - Hopelessness.”

You can read my full reply, which offers practical, real-world solutions that are available today (yes there IS hope) HERE or in the “MY REPLY to Ted” section below. However, in thinking about how best to respond to Ted I decided two of the best ways to combat exhaustion, prevent hopelessness, and start “rallying the troops” is through poetry and music.

IMHO, poetry and song are two of the most accessible, influential, and memorable art forms. Their texts and melodies tell a story, often inspired by current events, and can carry messages that reach past language, racial, and cultural divides to touch hearts.

If you agree, please reply with poems and/or music that you feel express what we are facing today as a people and as a species. I’ve included two of my favorites below:

A poem by Amanda Gorman entitled, “An Ode We Owe,” (which she read during the opening of the 77th Session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York), and
Believer, a song by Imagine Dragons as sung by the One Voice Children’s Choir

I look forward to hearing what you think and how you’d combat exhaustion and hopelessness.

Hugs,
Jena

P.S. My apologies for the length :-)

An Ode We Owe by Amanda Gorman

How can I ask you to do good,
When we’ve barely withstood
Our greatest threats yet:
The depths of death, despair and disparity,
Atrocities across cities, towns & countries,
Lives lost, climactic costs.
Exhausted, angered, we are endangered,
Not because of our numbers,
But because of our numbness. We’re strangers
To one another’s perils and pain,
Unaware that the welfare of the public
And the planet share a name–
–Equality
Doesn’t mean being the exact same,
But enacting a vast aim:
The good of the world to its highest capability.
The wise believe that our people without power
Leaves our planet without possibility.
Therefore, though poverty is a poor existence,
Complicity is a poorer excuse.
We must go the distance,
Though this battle is hard and huge,
Though this fight we did not choose,
For preserving the earth isn’t a battle too large
To win, but a blessing too large to lose.
This is the most pressing truth:
That Our people have only one planet to call home
And our planet has only one people to call its own.
We can either divide and be conquered by the few,
Or we can decide to conquer the future,
And say that today a new dawn we wrote,
Say that as long as we have humanity,
We will forever have hope.
Together, we won’t just be the generation
That tries but the generation that triumphs;
Let us see a legacy
Where tomorrow is not driven
By the human condition,
But by our human conviction.
And while hope alone can’t save us now,
With it we can brave the now,
Because our hardest change hinges
On our darkest challenges.
Thus may our crisis be our cry, our crossroad,
The oldest ode we owe each other.
We chime it, for the climate,
For our communities.
We shall respect and protect
Every part of this planet,
Hand it to every heart on this earth,
Until no one’s worth is rendered
By the race, gender, class, or identity
They were born. This morn let it be sworn
That we are one one human kin,
Grounded not just by the griefs
We bear, but by the good we begin.
To anyone out there:
I only ask that you care before it’s too late,
That you live aware and awake,
That you lead with love in hours of hate.
I challenge you to heed this call,
I dare you to shape our fate.
Above all, I dare you to do good
So that the world might be great.

Believer by Imagine Dragons (as sung by the One Voice Children's Choir)

First things first
I'ma say all the words inside my head
I'm fired up and tired of the way that things have been, oh-ooh
The way that things have been, oh-ooh

Second things second
Don't you tell me what you think that I could be
I'm the one at the sail, I'm the master of my sea, oh-ooh
The master of my sea, oh-ooh.

I was broken from a young age
Taking my sulking to the masses
Writing my poems for the few
That look at me, took to me, shook to me, feeling me
Singing from heartache from the pain
Taking my message from the veins
Speaking my lesson from the brain
Seeing the beauty through the...

Pain!
You made me a, you made me a believer, believer
Pain!
You break me down you build me up, believer, believer
Pain!
Oh let the bullets fly, oh, let them rain
My life, my love, my drive, it came from...
Pain!
You made me a, you made me a believer, believer.

Third things third
Send a prayer to the ones up above
All the hate that you’ve heard
Has turned your spirit to a dove, oh-oooh
Your spirit up above, oh.
I was choking in the crowd
Building my rain up in the cloud
Falling like ashes to the ground
Hoping my feelings, they would drown.
But they never did, ever lived, ebbing and flowing
Inhibited, limited
Till it broke open and rained down
It rained down, like...

Pain!
You made me a, you made me a believer, believer
Pain!
You break me down you build me up, believer, believer
Pain
Oh, let the bullets fly, oh, let them rain
My life, my love, my drive, it came from...
Pain!
You made me a, you made me a believer, believer

Last things last
By the grace of the fire and the flames
You're the face of the future, the blood in my veins, oh-ooh
The blood in my veins, oh-ooh.
But they never did, ever lived, ebbing and flowing
Inhibited, limited 'til it broke open and rained down.
It rained down...

Pain!
You made me a, you made me a believer, believer
Pain!
You break me down and build me up, believer, believer
Pain!
Oh, let the bullets fly, oh, let them rain
My life, my love, my drive, it came from...
Pain!
You made me a, you made me a believer, believer, believer.

MY REPLY to Ted Bauer’s Post

Thank you for This Ted. I always read your posts with great interest.

The big elephant in the room for me is a system that does not prioritize the health and well-being of all people (notice I did NOT say wealth). It is blatantly rigged to funnel wealth to a select few without regard for the health of the planet or the people who actually do the work. This MUST change.

Have you watched "The Need to Grow?" If not, get it now. It not only describes how we are systematically destroying the soil (and so the planet and other living creatures) to preserve profits and offers a clear, simple, and empowering solution: grow.foodrevolution.org

Do you follow Hannah Ritchie's work and have you seen her TED Talk, "Are We the Last Generation — or the First Sustainable One?" If not, please watch it now: youtube.com/watch?v=Kl3VVrggKz4

The solutions exist but those in power are hell bent on making sure they stay in power no matter what the cost. The reasons we have so many who have abandoned their humanity (or never developed it in the first place) is a topic for another discussion. But I know you know why.

You talk about the exhaustion of everyone feeling broke. It was interesting but let's talk about what happens after exhaustion - Hopelessness.

What is someone supposed to do when they lose their home, are so poor they cannot afford to pay for both their rent and groceries, and have no healthcare? What are those of us who have worked hard all our lives supposed to do when we can no longer find jobs and social security is so little it doesn't come close to covering the cost of living?

I know the narrative says that all these people aren't working hard enough - that we have become dinosaurs and should just go away and stop bothering everyone else. But I beg to differ. Those who have worked the hardest and lived the most have something priceless to share with the world - wisdom.

Not everyone is wise and not everyone has something to contribute, but everyone's life (including the lives of those who do not buy into American capitalism and other species) has value. All lives are interdependent and interconnected. That is the BIG lesson that humanity keeps avoiding and must be addressed if we hope to survive as a species. What hurts one hurts us all.

So what do we do? I can only speak for myself in my tiny part of Substack. However I believe there is power in numbers and that by connecting with and sharing ideas, collaborating, and making sure that the voices of visionaries, scientists, teachers, kids, teachers, poets, dancers, authors, indigenous people, the differently abled, and other non-human species are heard we can not only find solutions but make sure that those who are mentally and emotionally damaged (who lack the emotional intelligence to see the value of all life) are removed from power as well.

I will stop now, but I will be tagging every Substack creator whose work I admire and believe can contribute to this vision in this post. I hope you will do the same. Thank you again.

Sign me,
Exhausted but Still Standing

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