Becoming

Austin, TX | 2022 © Alicia Kae Miller

In this moment of long-overdue and undeniable change, individuals must choose to awaken to our co-existence between Mother Earth, one another, and most importantly, ourselves.

As my friend G. suggests more eloquently, transition "from the subconscious to conscious."

I am not proposing that we forgo nostalgia. On the contrary, nostalgia is a good reminder of how far we have come in our individual and collective journey together.

However, I urge us to realize that there is no going back.

There has never been. Even when we get together with family and old friends or visit the places of our youth, while our memories remain, we have long since become someone else.

Like the end of any relationship, there is a reason that it must end. Our relationship with 2019 is like this. We think that we had the world on a string, but did we?

I often say that where we are going is not where we have been and that empathy is the greenlight that puts us in motion to obtain what we all want: to be seen, heard, and understood. The dignity that comes when we are empathetic with one another is something we all deserve regardless of our race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

As we reckon with a past that did not serve us well, it is painful to have hard conversations. Yet, to heal from the shame in all of us, we must bring these unspoken truths into the light.

When awakened, we become woke.

The sentiment around woke has been highjacked and framed as a negative when it is positive.

Woke is simply that a person is awake to someone else's lived experience. Inclusion for all. How can anyone consciously argue against this?

Until we meet again, recall that we are beams of light bouncing off one another. ❤️

Yours in Solidarity, -akm

February 2022

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