No two moments the same

   In the recent days, many people have felt turmoil in the world, especially with the change in political landscape post- U.S. election. While there are those who might wonder why this is important or relevant to daily life, others hunker down into a heavy despair. I think it's important in these moments to take a somewhat middling path between the despair of thinking it's the end of the world, and the apathy of not caring at all. Can Buddhist teachings help in this way? Yes, I believe that they can be good and useful reminders.
    I have noticed indeed that people often take the approach of either trying to shut out painful situations (such as using the biggest set of headphones) and becoming militantly angry, to the point of rage about a situation. I think what characterizes both these approaches is that they assume that whatever is on their mind has a permanent existence. In fact, nothing is like that. People do and can change over time, even if a person is stuck in one view. The problem is that sometimes people don't stick around long enough to see change happen on its own, and when they do stick around, they may only be seeing the present through the lens of a distant memory. It's a bit like a scientist who has worked on this one theory all her or his life and sees things only as a way of confirming that theory. If I stop thinking that everything by necessity fits that mould or does not, I can start to see things in very different, novel ways as opposed to before.
   There is a certain joy that comes from staying in a relation with someone and observing how we change our reaction to the similar situation over time. Why is that? I think it's because we begin to realize that the mind can see variations if they listen deeply and closely enough. If you take a picture of one tree 100 times, it might look like the same tree at first, but then when your mind is more relaxed and you slow down, you might begin to feel that the tree changes across the images. But if I don't slow down and really look at it, I will conclude that it's all just the same thing. And this leads to the boredom that often incites violence or anger at something. It's as though rather than seeing each instance as separate and distinctly formed from its own unique conditions and circumstances, I lump all the experiences into one in order to make a case 'for' or 'against' its existence. Can we get out of that rut enough to see that they aren't really the same at all? I think this is a challenge that everyone needs to face in the moment.