Shift Happens

I look back, 8 months ago. January 2021…

As some welcomed the covid new year, with a ‘good riddance‘. I chose to not celebrate the end of the Great Pause of 2020, into the beginning of the Great Unknown of 2021.

These recent times have seen many lives shift forever. It has seen many people look in the mirror and challenge their realities, their beliefs, their perceptions.

I cannot throw a year out with disparagement, no matter how tough, weird, brutal or hurtful it was. Each year holds many perspectives. Each year holds many moments of joy, pain, truth, surprise, wonder, grief.

Each year adds another dimension to my thinking and feeling process.

I can’t simply value solely what made me feel good or brought me positivity. I must value what has shaken me to the core, altered my perspective, questioned my perceptions, demanded I look back even in fear, and nudge me forward.

For me, prayer is not enough, I believe action is key for there is no degree of manifestation that will bring peace to those who suffer daily in hunger, cold, loneliness, illness, poverty, discrimination and fear.

The Great Pause and the facing of the Great Unknown are opportunities to be reminded, to be taught, to be challenged.

My wish for the new Unknown is that Shift will Happen.

My wish for the new Unknown is for the humans, especially the privileged, to act with humility, balance, equity and replace the words Me, Self, I with more words such as We, You, Us.

SOME THINGS I HAVE REALIZED SO FAR:

• That being a workaholic is a compulsion, and not a badge of honour.
• That never has hypocrisy, entitlement and privilege been so brazen.
• That identity and role are not the same.
• That it’s healthy to re-evaluate the meaning of success.
• That it is good to re-evaluate the meaning of resilience.
• That imagination is an especially important quality; it is what leads us to critical thinking and questioning.
• That a year is not comprised of days: it is bubbling with moments. Some of these moments pop and disappear quickly, while other moments skate across the surface of the day until, weakened, they vanish, leaving only a residue of having been there.
• That wearing a mask saves on buying lipstick, and it conveniently hides the double chins, and if you wear glasses, it makes you look at life through a soft, sexy foggy lens.
• That deep, long, sleep is smart and nourishing.
• That going back to school and learning something that has nothing to do with a career is vital.
• That stopping the noise, stopping the need for continuous ‘doing’ is ok.
• That there is still so much waste; that re-use is not the same as recycling.
• That recycling is at an all time high, yet so is consumerism.
• That big box stores control food production with their floor to ceiling stockpiles while there are still so many bare floors in homes on this planet.
• That privilege trumps all.
• That there is little difference between a white lie, a fib, and an outright lie.
• That soul Searching is best done by soul Giving.
• That accountability is a lost, noble trait with the inception of tweets, memes, lol’s, little hearts and posts.
• That concealment is cowardly.
• That self-care is seemingly evolving into self-serving.
• That mindfulness has seemingly become a new lucrative cosmic trend.
• That some common yet rarely used synonyms of meditate are: muse, ponder, and ruminate.
• That there are ironies so intense when I see some citizens of this world walking 10 kilometres for a bucket of unfiltered water while other citizens discard their half consumed bottle of Evian because it sat in the front seat of their SUV in the sun; that some citizens of this world are begging to the wealthier countries to send vaccines as the covid virus ravages families and collapses entire medical systems, while other citizens gather en masse, unmasked, unfazed to protest the protection of their freedoms; that some citizens of this world wake each morning hoping to get their cancer treatment while other citizens balk at fake news stating that ICUs are full and medical staff are exhausted.

THE GREAT PAUSE HAS ME RE-EVALUATING AND AT TIMES, DECODING WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS SUCH AS:

pivot, navigate, woke, sheep, cancel culture, stream, bubble, virus, need, desire, essential, zoom, social distance, mask-up, personal protection, mindfulness, jab, going viral, Karen, my truths, virtual, alone, hug, comfort zone, posts, trigger, tribe, the same boat.