Not sure what in particular you are referring to since I haven't checked news sites since early this morning, but the beauty of gardens and the natural world are important as far as I am concerned. Something has to provide peace, beauty and respite from the bad things that happen in the world. Not that I don't have responsibilities to do what I can to right wrongs, but I don't see it as an either or situation.

I can't watch any of his public appearances or listen to the speeches as it does significantly bad things to my blood pressure. So I turned the channel to the Animal Planet :-)

OTOH , much like Babs, I find great solace in being outdoors and gardening.....or even indoors and designing gardens. It may be a lot of the ostrich head in the sand syndrome but I find working with plants, gardening and designing gardens keeps my thoughts on far more pleasant things than the appalling state of the world these days and all the idiots that seem to be in charge.

I'm not convinced there is much Joe or Joan Public can do other than keep the faith that all will resolve itself eventually.

Sometimes, you have to make your own sunshine. If working in the garden and admiring beautiful plants are the things that helps you get up and keep moving when things get bad, it just means that it helped you restore your strength. Or offered a moment of peace to someone else who needs to do the same.

Spreading beauty in the world is never wrong.

beauty of gardens and the natural world are important

Spreading beauty in the world is never wrong

We all think similarly but the natural world as we have known it is under great threat by our species because of a rapidly changing climate and the constant threat and presence of war. Can anyone say that our future looks better now, as of this morning? We will only be able to buy time for future generations by working on problems cooperatively. Of course I am being simplistic but "me first" will never lead to long term solutions. Heck you know I am not stating anything profound here. But I am feeling overwhelmed by my/our inability to force worthwhile change.

Prayers are nice but a donation to the ACLU makes me feel better. YMMV.

Prayer was never meant to take the place of action, but to go with action. "Courage to *change* the things I can". Prayerfully donate to ACLU? ;-)

If you need time to be away from gardening posts, then so be it. I don't see the rational to it personally, but if it works for you. I also don't see it as an either or situation. The orange one does not stop me from going about my daily routine or enjoying life, And my garden is a joy to me. Fight him when you can, and carry on with your life as it is. To do otherwise is succumbing to all the evil that he spews.

I have not watched the speech, but I have a link bookmarked to watch it, if I choose to do so. I'm guessing it's 40 minutes of: "I'm the best, nobody can bomb NK like I can, look at the size of this crowd; Obama never had a crowd like this, Hilly won by voter fraud...blah, blah, blah."

Actually, I've found that gardening bridges the divide between me and some local Trump supporters. If we talk politics, we're screwed. If we keep it to plants, we really like each other. If I do watch the speech, I guarantee I will need some stress relief and mental therapy, both of which I find in my gardens.

I'm sorry to hear how you're feeling today... I've never been a news follower; the extent of my news is half-listening to NPR or the local news/traffic station as "noise" for the drive to work because most of it is stuff I have no control over, it's way too stressful. So truthfully I don't know what prompted the original post. I have been thinking about the recent natural disasters (latest is the big earthquake in Mexico). Like many of you, I find solace in the natural world and tending my little piece of it or just spending time outdoors brings me closer to God - even something as simple as watching the bees flitting from plant to plant reminds me of Him, it is perfect in design and it's all in His hands, and that is a supreme comfort to me.

I'm so disgusted with politics that I haven't looked at the news in months. I can't do anything about it anyways until the next elections when I get to put in my two cents worth. I figure the time I have left on earth is precious and scarce, and I don't want to spend it thinking about injustice, war, overpopulation, and/or increasing catastrophic weather events.

My gardens are balm for the soul, a sanctuary from adversity and worry, and a connection to the natural world. I opt to immerse myself in the positive, rather than dwell on the negative.

There has always been uncertainty in the world but I find especially in times like these I crave the familiar. Whether it is grief or a madman running amok gardening helps ground us.

We all deal with life in different ways but I will not allow anything or anyone to take away my love of gardening.

I would like to respectfully ask this question in here: Do we really have to insert politics into a forum dedicated to gardening? It's bad enough to see people so polarized in opinions and political views out there. Can we keep political opinions out of Gardenweb? Can we be cordial and respectful of other's opinions in forums like this one? If I wanted to discuss politics and get my blood pressure tru the roof, I wouldn't be participating in this forum. Happy gardening everyone!

Just want to add, if you really want to do something, find an Indivisible group near you and join it. You'll feel better.

I try to stick my head in the compost bin and ignore politics, because it just raises my blood pressure.

It's not just politics it's all these disasters, I haven't been able to be out in the garden this summer because of health issues so I've been sitting in front of the TV. When I turn on the news I feel so totally helpless, so much suffering, so much loss. We made a donation to the Red Cross in hopes that others will chip in wherever they can. My problems seem to be so insignificant to what others are dealing with, heartbreaking.

IMO I think it's good that we recognize what is going on in the world today, let people that are suffering know that others care about them.

Annette