I think I’m one of the handful of our species who still carry a few Neanderthal genes in their DNA (another fantasy, or it could be truth?) I withdraw to my inner cave for comfort, also 
when frightened by the antics of my universe.
The entrance to my cave is narrow, if not hidden, and its roof everpresent, overhead and revealed by the spirits of the night. Inside I most often experience protection and shelter, but then unpredictably, for no reason, the sky is rent and the displeasure of the spirits falls through. In 1971, without warning, joy morphed into fear as my precious wombling appeared, both mongoloid and terminal. Fear had pelted from my sky, so long protecting.
The sins of the fathers, surely not mine? I watched the rent in the sky, distrusting its false reassurance. .
Years passed, propitiation helping maintain the fabric of the sky, until the sky was rent again and again and the size of my haven shrank. After years of succor by the cave spirits, fear moved in, and the floor of my cave became unstable. Retribution was upon both me and the few family and clan mates who also had sought succor.
Expatiation for what? As we look on, age, disease and a mysterious silence fills the cave. A shepherd’s crook reaches down and snuffs out its own. Finally, overhead, rocks begin to fall from the sky of my refuge and we crawl out to discover a frighteningly similar world.
The scene in this sprawling land of mountain crags of cautious and fearful humans creeping out from their places of temporary refuge feels somehow archetypal. I look up and wonder, is this a new day or a new night?
285 words
c.nanmykel
NANMYKEL.COM 
Sep 06 · 01:48:27 PM
There is an old joke that if you are not depressed, you are simply not paying attention… and I submit that most of the time people are not paying attention, and that is how we keep finding ourselves here, over and over again.
Be that as it may, every morning the sun shines, the rain falls, and the tide goes in and out, the birds sing, and people help each other, and babies are born, and people fall in love. It is beyond doubt a beautiful world, and one well worth saving. I know that I made a conscious choice to come here, to see that this beautiful place becomes the garden it was meant to be, whether this means the human race lives here, or not. When I bring my attention to the beauty and sacredness of this Earth, and of every star and universe, I feel connected to it all, one grateful drop in an ocean of love. When I focus on human affairs, it is easy to become discouraged and depressed, so as often as I can, I return to my meditation practice and I get outside and feel the beauty. Music helps. Helping others helps too. We are all here together experiencing life, and we have a choice mainly whether we bring love, or fear, hope or despair, to ourselves and to others each day. So don’t feel bad about being depressed — it is a part of being conscious, just like joy. i find the best I can do is remember that the choice of what I put my attention on and my energy in is mine, in every moment.
So, fellow traveler, I hear you, and I send you a little light to start your day, and I thank you for all you have done in 72 years to bless this little planet, because everything counts… Mahalo nui loa — thank you!