Now What?

Randomly today I needed to hear The Smiths.

‘Needed,’ as in: like a person needs air, water, passion, and love.

The interwebs quickly supplied a catalog of Smiths tunes, and at the top was “How Soon Is Now?”

 So I pushed play. 

I was transported back to high school, 15 years old. Completely unsure of myself, but strangely free at the same time. I let the music’s vibe soak in — and it was exactly what I needed to hear this morning.

Feelings of fear, loneliness, crushing grief, self-sabotage, they began to yield to insights, ideas, vibrations, and creativity. 

I felt freed being stuck inside my own head. I had mental space to ask myself:

This self-administered bondage of unrest, of separate and unequal justice, the systematic, codified monetization and demoralization of human beings … can we truly not do better?

The universe must seek a balance; I believe this to be a truth. 

I’m looking at you Congress. Big media. Big tech. Big data. Fast fashion. Warmongers. Tyrants. Wall Street. So many more. 

I see you. Your never-ending fuckery.

I do not consent. And, I'm not the only one.

These young people, oh they see you. Generation X sees you. The middle class, they see you. Our Queer communities see you too. In fact, all our institutionally marginalized fellow human beings, they’ve been on to y’all for a long ass time.  

I also see the optimism of my own youth. Optimism insists we can admit where each of us is complicit, take responsibility, and use that self awareness to manifest our better angels. 

I want to believe I can do that. That you can do the same, too. We can do better, for ourselves and others:

All of us have been thru it over the last 18 months. But now, we are back at it.

So now, let's get present. Mindful. Involved. Reconnected. 

The world needs your voice.

And now means … well, NOW.  Let’s catch now together, before it’s gone.