Sleepwalking

Laos | 2017 © Alicia Kae Miller

At War.

Lately, every day feels like a battle.

A fight for our livelihood.

A struggle to be heard.

A clearing of vision from the fog that doesn’t seem to lift.

We mark our days by the physical and symbolic contrast between light and dark and wait for something. What is something that you wait for?

A promotion? A luxury automobile? A long sought-after vacation retreat from the hectic world that we once lived in?

The key to acceptance of gratification delayed is that the world that we once inhabited is gone. Life as we knew it before COVID-19 is gone. Buddha voices

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future,

concentrate the mind on the present moment.

All the tension that you are holding onto deserves release. I dare you to be lionhearted, to exhale what is holding you back from being present and living your best life.

I have heard many people articulate over the last few months how they wish that we could go back to being normal again. At this stage of the pandemic, I question what normal is and do we really want to go back to that pace of life, to that disconnectedness from one another?

When I look around today I see a much kinder, gentler, patient humanity actively taking in yet another sunrise, sunset, and a world filled with greater compassion and less hate.

What a gift that we have been given = COVID-19 has shown us is that unity is priceless, and division futile.

In 1992 Mr. Rodney King cried “People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along?" This piece of timeless wisdom is just as valid today as it was during the Los Angeles uprising.

The difficulties ahead are not lost on me but I prefer to gauge humanity based upon what unites us rather than what superficially divides us.

The truth is that we collectively have doubt, fear, and anxiety in our war against an invisible combatant. Ghosted and doing the best that we can, does not mean that we should stop being kind and considerate to one another.

Let me encourage you, as I encourage myself, to summon strength at this moment that we may never receive again to find solace in that you are not alone, because we are all in this together.

Until we meet again, namaste. ❤️

Yours in solidarity, -akm

October 30, 2020

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