Fluidity

You know how much I love words. This is a great one, don't you think? Fluidity. The action of smooth flow. There is so much in life that is fluid. The other day I was driving and my girl told me I was a smooth driver. What do you mean? I asked. She said she could hardly feel me changing my foot from the brake to the gas pedal. It was a smooth ride she said. I, of course, said thank you. There is so much in life that is fluid. Have you ever been at a house after a funeral? Or at a church gathering that includes a meal? The way people work together and set up, serve a meal and clean up is fluid. Almost second nature. Have you seen a group of women standing around and one is holding a baby? The baby starts to fuss and the mom will rock back and forth from one foot to another to calm the child. Look around at the rest of the ladies in the group. Chances are that you'll see others doing the same thing even though they are not holding a baby. It's natural.

This brings me to another type of fluidity. For the past several weeks Madison, WI, has been adapting to a new situation. You all know the details of the announcement made by Scott Walker to not only decrease benefits of state workers, but to take away their bargaining rights. This will make a difference for my immediate family with both my husband's job and I'm fairly sure mine, too. This is not going to be comfortable for us. But we have a plan and we have faith. We are not as worried as some. And we are part of a community that cares for one another. Over the past few weeks we have made our voices heard by our presence at protests. Scott (my husband) spoke inside the Capitol to the crowds of people. What an honor that was for him. We are proud of his voice and what he said.

The crowds have been amazing. The numbers are in the thousands. Even 100,000 a couple of weekends ago. More amazing has been the general concern for each other. Strangers will bring your child water and a granola bar. A person you have never met before will strike up a conversation with you. In the course of talking you discover different backgrounds. We're from different political parties. But guess what? We all seem to know what unfairness is. We walk together. We talk together. We celebrate our differences. And our similarities. We may never cross paths again. But for that brief time that we spend together we are fluid in the fact that we are for the same cause. It's really a lot simpler than many would want you to believe.

So whether it is the rising and setting of the sun. Or the routines we all find in our regular every day schedules. I wish all of you the ability to find comfort in the fluidity of life this week.

© 2011 Ann M. De Broux