April is here - bringing with it sunshine and warmth, fun and play outdoors, spring and allergies, upheavals and challenges.
“The figure of the fool walked off the margins of medieval manuscripts into the unholy courts of the Renaissance, then returned to the page as Hamlet’s Yorick. Later, in the age of reason and democracy, the parodist of royal dignity became a mirror of the universal condition: Dostoevsky’s ‘holy fool’ and Picasso’s grubby clowns; Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.” ~ Dominic Green, The Wall Street Journal
lousy world leaders - Firuz Kutal cartoon
Tough times call for more care and compassion.
The news for this month of April cover some pretty dire current events. Armed conflicts - attacks and abuses. Crisis - economic and climactic. Disasters - natural and humanitarian. Politics - diplomatic and revolutionary. The list escalates and is endless.
Fake news is taking a collective toll on us all. When we are constantly inundated with too much, all day, every day - it takes our breath away in awful, not awesome ways. Leaving us wondering what the hell has happened instead of waking to the wonder we love and look forward to.
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| Berkeley's happiness calendar, April 2026 |
Battered and bruised - we seek alternatives that alleviate and relieve us of the stress and trauma. We cannot allow these events to overwhelm us or overtake our lives.
People have long speculated about the origins of April Fools Day - this most foolish holiday. Suggesting the Roman Saturnalia, Druidic rites in Britain, the carnivalesque medieval celebration of the Feast of Fools, and even the Indian festival of Holi as possible origins.
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| Portrait of Pope Gregory XIII, responsible for the Gregorian Calendar Mehrerau Monastery, Bregenz, Vorarlberg, Austria |
Despite attempts to establish an earlier origin for the day, clear references to a tradition of fooling in April don’t begin until the late Middle Ages.
The tale that April Fools’ Day derives from a calendar change which occurred because of the switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar, put into effect in October 1582.
“You can’t grab. You can only listen and tune, and listen and tune, and listen and tune. And in the process of listening and tuning, you keep hearing many, many guides and instructions.” ~ Ram Dass
Ram Dass speaks about the process of listening and tuning to hear the unique predicament of our spiritual journey. The quieter we get, the more we can hear which spiritual practice is the right one for us in the moment.
He talks about appreciating how all methods are traps. There is an excitement and joy in finding a method that’s harmonious with our being, and a sadness when that method self-ejects.
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| anonymous adage |
Living in times of great change, grows ever more challenging. The cost of individuality to our compassionate hearts is an ever present threat. Building and being part of the web of human caring is ever valuable and important.
Take a close look at what societal changes have taken place from when we were kids until now as we age. How reactive and frightened are we by change, as we have grown? Do we quiet down enough to be able to listen clearly to assess our predicament truthfully?
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| Happy National Librarian Week! |
What truly is the cost of individuality to our compassionate, human hearts? What boundaries can we set so we learn to say no without closing our hearts? How we can we learn from any situation?
We can honor individual differences without being trapped by them. Being caught in our separateness cuts us off from our community of fellow beings. It is possible to build the web of human caring and be immersed as part of it.
We can find our peace in the midst of great change.
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