ley lines

An overcast morning saluted us with some mild swells and air and water had that wintry bleak feel. 

The sun peaked in and out as the wind blew and chilled our scantily clothed bodies.  Four of us swam out in visibility that wasn’t as spectacular as it could have been. 

Looking to the first buoy we established our ley lines that got some of us there faster than others. 

Ley lines you say?  Isn’t it lay lines like one would use in sailing. You know “Lay lines” the ones that are the straight line tracing the course following which a boat can reach an upwind mark (the shortest course to reach the target).

No, i mean ley line the one that brings you to some mystical energy. Some force that guides you in to a place where you can experience a random event. Some people believe that ley lines and their intersection points resonate a special psychic or mystical energy.  Hmmm you must be thinking.

My favorite fish can you find him?

People that don’t swim always ask if we just race all the time.  i explain that we usually stop for any number of reasons including turtles, flashy fish, unusual formations or anything odd looking.  If we haven’t stopped at all on the way out to the first buoy then it has probably been an uneventful swim and highly unusual. We derive a lot of energy out of these swims be it physical, spiritual, psychic or mystical.

This morning at the first buoy we got to talking about “Obamacare”, single payer health insurance, and a host of other things that involved ideology from both sides.  Up until recently i have been the only “bleeding heart liberal” with a “fiscally conservative” mindset.  i’m always beefing up the conversation with tidbits my fellow swimmers were unaware of.

Anyway we left that buoy not having finished the conversation but needing to get going.  i’m sure some of us had thought that by the time we got to the second buoy our thoughts would be more concise and we could continue the discussion by revealing points we had previously omitted. Out came our new ley lines and off we went.

Sea Fan

By the time we reached the second buoy we were to be silenced by the arrival of five gorgeous dolphins that wanted to play. Unfortunately i had left my camera at home thinking if the sun wasn’t out the picture would be dull, my mistake.  Those dolphins’ two mamas with children and one huge male swam so close to us i could have gotten beautiful pictures.

The kids rolled on their backs showing off their white bellies while the mamas nodded their heads.  The male, who was longer than me, got into a vertical position right in front of me, nodded his head and then played.  He was as frisky and happy as was one of the children who stayed with us the longest. We of course trilled our excitement and kept up with them as long as we could.

Elated, spiritually and physically we gushed over how lucky we had been to swim with them while heading to shore. i think we all genuinely felt we had been touched by something special.

We acted as a group, we experienced as a group and we shared as only groups of people can do. Those that are usually in our group but weren’t there today missed out.  Our group was benefiting from a positive environmental encounter with a species different from our own and we were all feeling the glow.

Society’s beliefs have consequences for the population at large.  We know this from our most recent experience with an economy that almost went into free fall. This morning our talk was about repealing “Obamacare” tomorrow it will be about something else, climate change, the deficit, poverty, education, wars and peace but you know we will still feel connected and act as a group.  

i believe in social safety nets, i believe in the common good, my friends do and they don’t. Unfortunately we only have time in our jam packed lives to listen to sound bites concerning the issues.  Back on shore we returned to expressing our views on "Obamacare" before splitting up.

We humans want the same things, a world of contented healthy children, families, communities, and natural systems.  We usually get along just fine as long as we aren't trying to control something. Cultural stories are used to shape our understanding and our choices. Today the choice is “Obamacare” or repeal of this care.  My cultural story is different from my friends even though we want the same things. The choice we are presented with by our government is limited because both create outcomes that will not benefit the population at large. Some of us find this a problem and some of us don't.

So what is it we all want...we all want the same things peace, contentment, prosperity, safety, healthy outcomes, strong families and communities.  What will benefit the population at large is what we all want even though we don't always recognize this.

My question to my friend is if single payer insurance would benefit you more than purchasing health insurance on the open market why in the world would you fight against it?