My son was two and playing on the sidewalk with the other kids. Laura, the next-door neighbor, jiggled her one-year-old. “I think for the first time in over two years,” I said, “I might not be overwhelmingly tired.” She replied, “I’m hoping to have that feeling soon, I’m just so exhausted!” As I recall early parenthood, I can still today feel the memory in my body and mind and spirit stretched so thinly, so precariously surviving, yearning for something out of reach.
Rain has been around a lot longer than humans. Sun, too. As long as our species has existed there has been weather, and people have found lots of different ways to handle it.
It’s rough out there. Wars, atrocities, mass shootings, global warming, toxic polarization, free-floating anger and anxiety. As I talk to people around me, I find many are distracted and off-center.
The misunderstandings, assumptions and judgments between generations cause some real conflicts. It is natural for people to believe the way they were raised, the time they grew up and the standards they considered as the norm are superior to other generations’ ways of being. Just like my grandmother and her hand-cranked dryer, it is hard to adopt to new ways.
Trust
What does all this have to do with conflict? Trust. In our relationships with others we are always either making deposits into or subtracting from the reservoir of trust. We humans aren't so different from our canine cousins in that regard. My months with Ohmi had contributed drop by drop to the trust reservoir. Yet one incident when I raised my voice and inadvertently harmed her, slight though it was, had taken us many steps backward.
You can prevent financial conflicts by tracking your expenses and budgeting your income. We have financial conflict coaches to help you to sort out your situation. Many of our mediation conflicts are financially related, and our coaches can help you to put your life in order. We hold workshops to help, send us an email if you want to be on the list.
Você poderia ajudar com o nosso programa para jovens na ilha? Envie essa pesquisa para jovens entre 13 a 22 anos ou adultos que trabalhem com jovens. Nós precisamos de informação sobre problemas que afetam os jovens em Martha’s Vineyard para podermos ajudá-los.
Would you please help our Youth Program? Send any young person between 13 and 22 or any adult who works with youth to our survey. We would like to have a broad cross-section of responses as we seek to understand the conflict landscape for young people here on the Island.
