Is it so small a thing
To have enjoy’d the sun,
To have lived light in the spring,
To have loved, to have thought, to have done;
To have advanc’d true friends, and beat down baffling foes?

– Matthew Arnold, “Empedocles on Etna” (1852)

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I’ve spent my previous evening and a portion of today with my comrades, discussing organizing upcoming events this spring and into the summer. Reflecting on the above quote, I keep questioning where things are headed personally, professionally, politically. Things are moving ahead and I’m not sure entirely in a positive way.

The first stanza of the dramatic poem quoted above from Matthew Arnold’s Empedocles on Etna (LINK), struck me when reflecting on writing centering on spring. I have “advanc’d true friends” – I’ve put a lot of work into meeting new folks, maintaining old relationships and working on myself. I’ve been focused the past year on tackling new responsibilities and putting myself into more leadership roles.

I sure would like to think myself and my friends are “beating down baffling foes”. I’ve pushed back against hatred and ignorance for many, many years, though it feels some days like I’m barely keeping my head above water.

I’m conscious of the fact that the aforementioned poem ends in Empedocles’ deliberate demise in the mouth of the volcano, the eponymous Mount Etna. Without fixating on doom and gloom, there’s value in working to advance a better world. I don’t wish to become an “eternally restless mind” – I want to put my thoughts into action.

Things are progressing, Boethius’ wheel of fortune is turning for better or for worse. Spring is coming.