YEAH, NO

     It’s strangely inspiring to me to hear people say “yeah, no” so often these days, as in “Yeah, no, I think it’s a great idea.” I guess it reminds me, in a funny way, of the fundamental truth that life is made  of opposites. Yeah, it’s superb, but no, it can also be dismal. Yeah, it’s a blessing, but no, it’s sometimes a catastrophe. Yeah, there’s May’s brightness, but no, there’s December’s blizzards. To me, it speaks of the overall fairness of life, its evenhandedness, its insistence on a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Life’s like a dance: yeah, a sway to the left, and then no, a swing to the right; yeah, a twirl, then no, a swirl. It’s this secret, ever-present balance in all things that lets the universe surge up and down, right and left, with perfect poise. My task is to see and appreciate this poise, this overall constancy, this gift of the general evenness of all of life. Yeah, no, there’s darkness, but also lots of light.