Another world is possible. Actually, it's here!
There are many intelligent, interesting people around us. Juicy, passionate, compassionate and smart. Detecting them is just a shift in view-point :)
THE OBSERVATION
Fear makes us weak, unimportant, alienated from our nature that is happy and collective. Bravery makes us alive, strong, safe and free from tyrants. Bravery means, among other things, accepting fear and turning fear into motivation for creative action. Protecting and creating harmonious living conditions for ourselves, our families, neighborhoods, communities, tribes, races and survival networks that includes people, trees, worms, dolphins, goats, wasps, amphibians and bacteria - and all. Eliminating the inner, self-centric need to have the last word on everything.
THE TRUTH
We can do this. We have enough knowledge available, enough technology, enough people (we're over 7.5 billion at the moment). We have made enough mistakes and taken on enough pain to now understand what we want to avoid in the present and future.
THE DISCORD OR FACTION
There is 1% (or 2% or 5% or 10% - I’m not at all interested in the number) who might exclusively and immersively want (I mean more than the average person ...) to exploit the remaining 99% (or 98% or 95 % or 90%) Hahaha! What are we talking about; Really, what does us, the 90% (or 95% etc) do about it? The huge percentage of 90+% we are determining the flow of things by the ways we respond or react to conditions and circumstances – we circulate the data (or the rumours) in social media and through word of mouth. We have the power of the market: we constantly buy food, clothes, mobiles, tickets etc, we move around, we produce, we use the internet, we take out loans, we exchange information ... So are we fooling ourselves? There are no hidden dark forces that can hurt us (except for aliens that we haven’t seen yet!) Everything is clear, as long as we have open ears, eyes and hearts: who gives what and who receives or consents to what. We create our own lifestyle with our daily choices. To what extent do we (the tortured 90+%) take care of ourselves, our health and our joy? How much do we really care, in depth, about our families, our children, our neighborhoods, our communities, our natural resources, our lives ... My only dark enemy could probably be myself.
Now, you will say: the problem, girl, is not the 1% of power but an about 30% of the population who are the followers, the disciples of the 1%; chosing to become executors, exploiters, applauders, torturers, traitors, abusers, etc .. I will respond to that by saying yes, I understand and agree, these people do strengthen any 1%’s unfair choices. However, could we understand them and be sorry for these unhappy followers? Most of them are deeply troubled and traumatized, bearing limited or destroyed mental and emotional health. What if we essentially limited their influence in our communities and our lives? I mean, for example, if the hatred energy of an abuser incites hatred inside a pacifist’s heart and mind then the abuser wins. On the contrary, if all pacifists and democrats would just stop buying products or offering services to or collaborating with abusers – without harming them, morally speaking – then we would weaken immensively the abusers’ impact and power.
THE CONFUSION
Also, you will say: The problem, girl, is not only the 30% but equally the rest 30-60% of inert people. Those of us who accept everything out of doubt, confusion, or fear; Or those who become fanatics... My responce to that is I completely understand and agree: we do strengthen injustice in our own, various ways. And what if we allowed ourselves to feel compassion for ourselves? What if we accepted and did understand that we never learned how to truly live? Let us learn it again, step by step. In our era, learning is easier than ever with all of the connectivity and information available. Let's see, in our minds’ eyes, what specifically makes us feel numb, sheep, indifferent, cynical, angry or guilty? What drives us to imitate (and thus reinforce) behaviors of abuse, cruelty, cynicism or fanatism? And instead of hating or mistrusting our weak selves (and the others), we may understand and support ourselves in getting out of the rathole and becoming lighter, empowered, educated and loved. This action alone would bring about such a cultural change that our society would never be the same again. The era of trust would begin.
THE COST OF EVOLUTION
Bravery includes responsibility. Life taught me to hold on before I speak. 'Think again what you want to say and how to say it,' she said. 'Are you talking with the public good in mind or just want to chit-chat?' I’m asking myselt. I'm trying to understand what's important and where the truth is (usually somewhere in between the lines). Trying to act without an intention of self-relief or showing off; Acting with the intention of love, joy, dignity and humility and with a disposition for a better life. Admitting that I can't do this alone, I need company: people triumph in the collective, in the herd, this is how our spieces survived while we are physically much weaker than lions. And I allow myself to get angry and to understand the why: instead of throwing my anger away at someone elses’ face, I work on using anger as an indication and prompt to look out or change. It's not easy, I often fail. And it worths the effort.
SURVIVAL
What will happen inside us and around us if we start using more of our minds’ and hearts’ intelligence (I.Q and E.Q if we want to be less poetic) and collaborate with our surroundings instead of enforcing our views and fears on them? How will our lives change once we are freed from habits such as resting in fear, alienation, irresponcibility, blaming others and from the conveniences of numbness or hatred? How much stronger our self-esteem will grow when we target and work on individual and collective joy? There is no room for injustice in joy. Joy means freedom. This is the only real power we have and can be catalytic.
A WALTZ
Listening to a waltz by Manos Hadjidakis and then another one by Nikos Kypourgos and then another one by Wong Kar Wai. It is a beautiful morning – gray but shiny – here, in the northwest of Europe. Well, it really feels cold; it’s raining. Through fog I am dreaming of Aegean shores and surrounding blue. But it is only colours I am thinking of and sounds of wind and waves. I can’t think of people. Most of us are dry, twisted and deaf. Well, to be honest, I also dream of people - of the ones that are alive, juicy and open. Here, in London, today is a winter Sunday – in south Europe today is part of a winter year. What has been that jealous of the Mediterranean sun to put so much darkness in people’s heads? By listening to music I get closer to my demons.
Flies say that I’m wrong. That here, in all of Europe, it is a war decade - more accurately, that we live in global war times. I was so naïve back in my twenties to never think that this was due to come. Perhaps it is all right to be naïve: it is actually healthy for people to spend some innocent days – as soon as we assume our 'post-production' responsibilities. Mom said: ‘clean the room after the party’. You know, mom, putting things in their places and getting rubbish out of the house is not a charming occupation. Wearing ugly work trousers and diving into dust with filthy hair, wounded knees and a smelly t-shirt is definitely the wrong moment for taking a glamorous photo of oneself. Who ever thought that being fair and brave is an easy task? Maybe we’ve seen it in TV soaps?
Keep believing in humanity is a struggle. As human, I am ashamed of us. But I still love my friends – can’t help it. Still, I wish for smiling faces around. Therefore, today is a beautiful morning – gray but sparkling – promising an absolute death that will allow new life to come. It has been always like that. Who cares if it takes time – is it important whether I’d personally see this transformation succeeding? Definitely, someone else will.