SETTLE DOWN, EVERYONE! THINGS WILL GET BETTER . . . AS THEY HAVE IN THE PAST
Have you ever found a word unsettling? It sticks in your head, and you can’t get rid of it?
I did it again! “Unsettling” uses the root, “Settle,” to handle a myriad of instances.
When I was a teacher, I might say “settle down, class.” Whether I could get that to happen was debatable.
Today, my brain keeps focusing on the many ways “settle” pertains to situations. It’s such a versatile word. We settle down. (Often meant to convey a young married couple settling into their lives with a home and family.) 
We WON’T SETTLE FOR whatever horrible situation we are supposed to accept. Anything less would compromise our sense of what is right and appropriate.
In Webster’s II, New College Dictionary, the definitions of settle have to do with:
- “To arrange or fix definitely as desired: put into order”
- To establish a residence, business, or profession
- Stabilize – establish on a permanent basis
- To pay a debt
- To start living a more orderly life and . . .
- As “settle for,” we resign ourselves to accept a situation, “without complete satisfaction.” As the Rolling Stones wailed in their anthem, “I Don’t Get No . . . Satisfaction,” although they try, and “they try, and they try . . . no, no, no, no satisfaction.”
This time in history is finding many people in agreement that they “don’t get no satisfaction.” (grammar from the song)
Do We Know What We Want?
We have nebulous concepts of what we want. We want things better, like they used to be back in the “good old days.” AHEM, but were they really good? Back in the good old days, the horses relieved themselves in the street, and humans didn’t have in-house flush plumbing. People didn’t bathe very often. That, coupled with the lack of indoor plumbing, meant things smelled more. 
Education asks a lot of us, but what do we really know about what we know? We learn facts about a multitude of things, most of which are not useful every day. I can figure out details about an equilateral triangle. But when have I ever used that?
We used to hear that we only use a small percentage of our brain power. Evidence shows we use more.
Mila Halgren, a graduate student in the Harnett Lab of the McGovern Institute of MIT says, “All of our brain is constantly in use and consumes a tremendous amount of energy. Despite making up only two percent of our body weight, it devours 20 percent of our calories.”
We need to harness (funny image, yes?) our enormous brain power to get through our unprecedented historically, economically, and politically challenging times. On NPR recently, I heard the stock market hasn’t been so volatile since 1932! I wasn’t around then, but I can just imagine.
About the Depression in the early 1930s, my mother told stories of her early childhood, and how scary just finding food was. When she didn’t see her pet chicken, she realized it had become their dinner.
I have lived through other economic crises. Coping with personal crises feels important. But taking everyone’s needs together can fuel a powerful impact. I plan to write to my elected officials to tell them exactly what I want.
Mostly, I want:
- our country intact, as a democracy.
- the right to vote for our elected officials and to have the election results be unchallenged, once the results are counted.
- our elected officials to follow the mandates of their constituents without feeling afraid of retribution to them or their families.
- programs that protect: people’s health, food security, and housing needs, indigenous people, senior citizens, veterans, families and children to be continued and funded. (If I left out any other concerns, consider them included.)
- minorities of every kind–political, economic, physical, religious, sexual, and age—etc—to be treated fairly with equal rights.
- and our longtime allies, Canada, Mexico, and other countries, to be treated as allies, not enemies.
To me, the above are the Good Old Days. Let’s each do at least a little to keep this the land of the free and the home of the brave. (From the “Star-Spangled Banner,” our national anthem.)
Meanwhile, I suggest meditation. Meditation can be helpful. Focusing on our breath. We can slow ourselves down and afterward, focus on what we want.
To return to my original theme, let’s not settle, accepting a situation, “without complete satisfaction.” Let’s make things happen!
PS I didn’t intend to write a blog that discussed our current situation, but I feel compelled to speak up! I will refrain in the future, as much as possible, keeping things to books, romance, and writing. Thank you for reading!
Hugs,
Shelley Sommers
Author of Louisa’s Vineyard Series
www.ShelleySommers.com
shelley@ShelleySommers.com
