If like me you are feeling as if nothing is in your control or at least nothing in the new White House regime and what is happening is the exact opposite of what you worked for and supported then these last few weeks might feel like cold fingers around your neck. The visceral pain punctuated by every step in the project 2025 playbook. We knew it was coming yet we stand powerless as our divided world is torn further from reality and straight into fiction. I don’t really know how a democracy dies or a civilization implodes but as I recycle my Amazon recycled cardboard and drive my e-bike for errands and eat organic local food I think this may be exactly what we are all bearing witness to. The Rolling Stones watched many of the pretty dreams and peaceful aspirations of the 1960’s float away in smoke yet deliberately allowed a modicum of hope in their iconic song, reminding us, “You can’t always get what you want, But if you try sometimes, well, you might find, You get what you need…” This week I found bits of what I need in the small and beautiful world I inhabit. Perhaps that’s a start.

So what is it that we want? I am fairly certain our answers cut political party lines, religious denominations, county origin and country citizenship, even dietary preferences, instead they involve safety, health and love, with a dash of individual purpose. These are the wants of every one of us walking along this small planet.

I have no notion what those billionaires on the crest of trillionaire status want, but for those of us residing on the ground floor a pretty sunset with a flock of pelicans crossing our view generally fills the cup. Didn’t Shakespeare sufficiently warn about unchecked and ruthless ambition, immoral greed, the consequence of vengeance, rash and selfish action, and perhaps the most damming of all, trusting the untrustworthy? Sure Claudius and Macbeth each wore the golden round, momentarily, but their legacy is a tarnished reminder of mankind’s foolish ills.

I know what I need. I find it walking in quiet contemplation along the dusty trails zigzagging these barren hills. I need people from across the globe who I admire, many who I’ll never meet but whose sacrifices and gifts grace my existence. I need their brilliance and hope-making and their true north to guide us out of the current chaos. I need trust or what some might call faith. I need to dance with joy and hold love tightly.

What is it that you need? Perhaps this universal chorus can act as a reminder to go find it.

You can’t always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you just might find
You just might find that you
You get what you need, oh yeah
Ah yeah, do that