I heard a radio story today about people accommodating to the London blitz. In the long history of London, being bombed daily is hardy a normal condition, and the blitz itself only lasted for 57 days. Nonetheless, a significant number of people adjusted their lives to the situation, incorporating its rhythms, rituals, and losses as their new normal.

Thinking of daily bombardment as something to simply accept and endure seems extraordinary to me, yet it illustrates the enormous adaptability of our species, an adaptability that has allowed us to dominate our planet and other creatures thereon, for better or not.

Do I have this trait? I’m living in California because I thought, I don’t have to adapt to snow, I can leave it. I lived there for 30 years first though, so I’m hardly a poster girl for change. Nonetheless, taking charge of one’s life by making a change seems better to me, probably because I like to think that I can control what Darth Vader would call DESsss – tin – ee. Gavin Newsom spoke eloquently on this topic today, saying something about the future not being something out there waiting for us, but rather something we are creating today.

The trouble is, in order to create “our” future, we have to agree on the future we want, and perhaps even on the present we have. Here in extreme-leaning America, it’s hard for people to see nuances, or to combine conflicting views. For years I have thought of America’s major political parties as representing Justice and Mercy, two positive traits that often conflict. Instead of choosing one or the other, we have to devise nuanced ways of combining them in order to optimize results.

If we can agree on what is optimal.

Adaptation and Control are both positive traits as well. The adapters in the blitz were fearless, showing the world what bucking up and getting on with things really looks like. Yet if we mindlessly adapt to new rules, we may simply accept our collective future, rather than shape it.

Recently I have been heartened by a smattering of relatively lucid conversations about re-opening schools, nestled among much screaming. Yes, we have a goal of keeping the spread of Covid-19 to a manageable level, but we also want to educate and socialize our children. One goal does not subsume another, just as applying justice doesn’t abrogate the transformative effects of mercy. Maybe we can adapt mindfully, while simultaneously devising future-shaping change.