Saturday Ride: Wildflowers, Suffering & Reflective Thought (click for more photos)

Pine Lily (Lilium catesbaei)

As usual, I am back on my bike! Today was another road ride on the Gainesville/Hawthorne Trail & surrounding areas (80 miles). I started early, but so did the storms. So when the thunderstorm moved in on the trail, I took my favorite detour down towards Cross Creek & Micanopy. Along 325 I saw some beautiful wildflowers, including pine lilies, fringe orchids, meadow beauties & St. John’s wort. I was in a really blissful mood when I crossed the River Styx & not fully prepared for what lay ahead on the other side. Not too far past the bridge, I noticed a pack of black vultures. I looked to the side as I passed & noticed a strange site of a deer carcass hanging from a barbed wire fence. Basically one leg & half the abdomen was left. I quickly realized that the deer had gotten its leg caught in the fence when jumping over & likely experienced a long slow agonizing death by the side of the road.

I realized a similarity between the beautiful wildflowers & the deer’s suffering. Both were caused by human alterations associated with the road I was using for my ride. The wildflowers were in the cleared swale along the road (I’m sure they were also in the adjacent pinelands, but I did not take the time to find them there) & the deer was caught up in the fence necessitated by the road (to keep the farm animals from being run over). Reality set in & I began reflecting on human impacts. I thought of my need for roads to enjoy my biking (whether it be driving to mountain bike or having pavement available to ride from home). Roads cause much death of both humans & critters. In thinking of human impacts I realize that even this blog I write comes at the expensive of energy used to create my computer, camera & power the servers, not to mention the human suffering created by the mining of precious metals in this Macbook & my camera.

So these are not new thoughts to me & I am still enjoying my ride. However, I am reminded that I live in a world that is out of balance & I am very much a part of that world, even when on a weekend bike ride. I think of my Social Work career and the good people I get to work with who get labelled as mentally ill. But in a world so out of balance with what it means to be human, who is mentally ill? While I believe that we all need to find happiness & relief from suffering, perhaps those of us who can tolerate a society that chooses to find all our happiness in external pleasures are the truly insane? Who are we to judge others? I certainly have not known the suffering caused by race or gender discrimination. I did not suffer an abusive childhood. The only real suffering I know is the knowledge that we live in a world where we do not love each other. I am reminded of what Pat Korb would always say “everyone has perfectly good reasons for being exactly the way they are”. I find whenever I take the time to listen rather than judge, this always turns out to be true.

So yes, a pleasant bike ride combined with endorphins does lead me into deep thought (I often wish I could write while I ride). Before getting home, I had one more reminder of reality. I stopped in the southeast neighborhood I cut through to get to the trail, in order to put away my Ipod Shuffle (usually I do this at the end of the trail, but I wanted to hear the end of a Neil Young song I like). While stopped, a young black teenager on a bike carrying a 6 foot piece of rebar approached & said “Get out My Hood!” then he turned around. I said something stupid like “I’m just passing through, Brother” I was fully expecting to hear “You aren’t my Brother” but he just repeated “Get out My Hood” as he road off. So again, I am reminded of how out of balance our world is. I appreciate him for reminding me that I can’t blissfully bike through life without also acknowledging the suffering caused by our current reality.

It is difficult sometimes to live in this world with awareness! It seems so obvious to me that if we can just let go of our endless capitalist pursuits of external happiness & get back to the reality of being human & finding our happiness within, then the world would be such a nicer place! All we really need to do is be authentic to ourselves! Yes, I am far from perfect. I have been trying to make a difference, to let go of much of what I have learned & to find true meaning in life. I know there is never going to be a perfect world, nor should there be. I also know that I can do my best to authentically be myself & that will make a difference.

As I finish my ride I realize that I am thankful for all of us who are trying to find meaning and authenticity in a world that seems to have lost the courage to be real!