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By Root 540 0

of its species, grows no taller than four feet and no longer than ten feet. Under cover of night it moves quietly through the thick jungle foliage, feeding on sweet saplings, mangoes, and figs. Threatened by deforestation and poaching, the rhino population here has shrunk drastically in a ten-year period, from thousands down to a few hundred. Recently I read that ecologists trekking into the national park found no hairy rhinos. These docile creatures, the author reported, were extinct. My eyes welled with tears from overwhelming helplessness, anger, and despair.

Unfortunately, in the last several years, such feelings have become commonplace. One need not go halfway around the world to encounter dismal realities. On any given day, a conversation or news report about climate change, extinction, human rights abuses, violence, political chicanery, disease, racism, poverty, arms sales—an endless list of human-generated atrocities—reveals that suffering takes place in all countries. Any one incident can arouse gloom and defeat in me when the world’s weight seems an insurmountable burden. What can I do amid so much suffering? Can any of my actions make a difference?

As a poet, often my response to suffering is to write. Reflections on genocide birthed a series of poems, Into Stillness. The unspoken emotions and hidden traumas of survivors found voice on my pages. The book is for them; it is also for me. Writing renews my spirit. Cultivating image and phrase and rhythm as they arise from my being affirms my participation in a generative life. Creating is an empowering act. It lays bare the ongoing, awe-inspiring cycle of life and death. Yet the gratification from my writing didn’t last.

Other actions resulted: writing letters to Congress, signing petitions, participating in demonstrations and vigils, donating money, volunteering at a phone bank, performing rituals. No amount of activity loosened the stranglehold. What more could I do without burning out and negatively affecting my job, my family, and my relationships?

If the greed and misdeeds of humanity bulldoze my spirit, then I, too, fall victim, yet another statistic piled onto the growing mound of sorrows. If I give in, I prostrate my thoughts, emotions, and body to another’s careless or carefully orchestrated tyranny. If I don’t attempt resistance and establish a vital positioning of myself in this nightmarish scene, my heart may continue to beat, but I will have joined the family of the disempowered. I am unwilling to go the way of the hairy rhino and classify myself as another life extinguished, another hope mutilated, another vision scorched. I am unwilling to perpetuate violence and ignorance by turning it on myself. With life at stake, my preference is to assert my own vision with courage, steadiness, and compassion.

Substantial change takes effect when it happens on two levels. Work needs to take place on the cause, the situation outside ourselves. Equally important, work also needs to take place within.

The suggestion of combining outer and inner work may come as a surprise, yet the combination is a potent blend. The careful evolution of one can and does influence the many.

The state of our inner being directly influences our behavior, which in turn influences how people respond to us. A rant over the phone results in a hang-up, whereas a letter with facts, evidence, and a reasoned tone wins an audience. Knowing which action to take and for how long can be hard to determine. A torrent of activity provides temporary relief, but combining action with research, reflection, and planning leads to effective, sustainable outcomes. If we’re not careful, well-meaning actions can take a hurtful turn. We overwork ourselves and lose patience. We confuse facts. We discredit actions. We blame and demonize the other. We throw bricks through windows, erase files, destroy equipment. Already upset by the balance of the world, inadvertently we contribute to the imbalance by not engaging ourselves more skillfully. We surrender our integrity and other values, justifying actions