Wouldn’t it be Nice to Re-Balance the Seesaw in 2024?

post 16 - a Pete Seeger story with a new twist for today's times

Thank you, one and all for the flood of emails, messages, and comments offering your condolences for the passing of my father last week.  Here’s today’s post:

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Pete Seeger, in addition to being perhaps the most important American musician of the 20^th century, and in addition to being one of our foremost “Wisdom Catchers” was also an incredible storyteller.  I can not count the times when Pete asked, “Have I told you about …” so and so.  Even if he had, I would reply, “Tell me, Pete.”  This way I heard certain stories over and over again, perhaps picking up on a detail, a nuance, or even a voice inflection I hadn’t noticed before.  Hearing the same story several times helped me commit them to memory.

There were some stories, however, I only heard Pete tell once.  As a result, I might not remember them completely accurately.  One such story I call “The Seesaw and the Spoons.”  I will share it to the best of my recollection.  But, I am going to set it to take place on a beach, and then add a new chapter to it. 

Pete’s story plus the setting I added goes something like this:

The Seesaw and the Spoons

Imagine that on a beach of sparkling sand, several yards in from the oceanfront, there is a seesaw.  On each end of the seesaw is a very large bucket. One bucket is full of rocks.  The other bucket is empty except for a few grains of sand blown in by the wind.  The bucket with the rocks, being so much heavier than the empty bucket, rests on the beach.  The empty bucket hangs at the other end of the seesaw about four feet above the ground. 

One day, somebody decides that the balance of the seesaw needs to be reversed.  So he grabs the rim of the empty bucket and pulls down with all of his might.  But he is unable to budge it.  His attempt to change the balance all by himself is futile.

But there’s a whole group of people who would also like to change the balance.  They gather together from all corners of the beach with spoons.  Each person fills their spoon with sand and dumps it into the raised bucket.  They all know that one hundred spoons full of sand will not change the balance.  Nor will one thousand.  But maybe ten thousand will.  Or maybe it will take a hundred thousand spoons full.  Or a million.  Who knows?

Reaching the Tipping Point

But they also know that if they work together and more and more people join their efforts, eventually the balance will shift.  One day, somebody will pour a spoonful of sand into the formerly empty bucket and it will become heavier than the bucket of rocks.  It will then drop down to the surface of the beach and create a new balance.

I think that accurately conveys the essence of Pete’s story, even if some of the details aren’t spot on.  But, now I would like to add a new chapter.

Imagine that the spoons are double-sided.  So, when someone fills their spoon with sand, they fill two little spoon bowls – one on each end of the handle. 

A two-sided wooden spoon

Now, suppose each person has to balance the spoon on their extended index finger as they carry sand to the seesaw so that the center of the handle rests on the finger while the two bowls hang over the two sides of the finger.

Keeping Our Own Balance

This would mean that each person needs to approach the big seesaw carefully, balancing their miniature seesaws full of sand.  If a person cannot balance their little spoon or cannot maintain their own balance, they will spill sand as they approach the seesaw. When they arrive they will have very little or nothing at all to contribute.

Today, I see millions of people calmly filling their proverbial spoons with sand, moving gracefully toward the goal, emptying their few grains, and returning to the source to gather more. 

But I also see millions franticly scurrying about the beach, losing their balances, spilling grain after grain along the way.  Some don’t have a clear vision of where the seesaw lies or are running with their near-empty spoons to mirages they mistake for the real thing.  Along the way, they create confusion, even crashing into the balanced folks. Some, while contributing little themselves, cry that “change-makers” are moving too slowly.  Some believe the seesaw itself is the problem, and that it needs to be destroyed.  So they intentionally disrupt and obstruct the paths of the “change-makers,” even teaming up with those who want to preserve, or even magnify, the imbalance.  

The Thread of the “Time to Heal” Tour

As the “Time to Heal” Tour approaches, this coming February, a blurry vision is gradually becoming more clear.  I won’t fully know until I am on stage singing with audiences.  But I am beginning to see the thread that will weave together songs and stories that affirm the value of balancing ourselves as we work to more equitably re-balance bigger things.

Plenty of people are working to tear down “the system.”  So I will continue to focus on building – I will remind people that we’ve made positive, lasting change in the past and we can do so again. 

I may only have a few grains of sand to contribute, but I believe deep in my heart, that if enough of us work together we can make our communities and the world better places.  We can rebuild the house without tearing down its foundation.

Re-balancing the seesaw. That’s what I am looking forward to in 2024.

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