I have been in the depths. I have been wallowing in anger and anguish for a world I no longer understand. A world where people believe we need to take sides and fight tooth and nail to be right. A hard and harsh place where being kind will get you nothing and nowhere. Where jargon is used to keep people out. I don't understand how lives aren't put first. Protection is given to those who don't actually need it and lavish comfort is to be aspired for over decency. Why is it so hard for us to even consider being a little less comfortable in order for all to access the basic necessities of life? Why do people have to put their health and safety at risk in order to live? Why have we let this fear of what we don't understand drive us? When did it start steering our ship? I have hated feeling so naive in thinking that we could live more kindly. I don't want to "rough up" my child in order to get them "ready" for the world: that's ridiculous. This last year the world has gone through more emotional ups and downs than someone in the throes of puberty. What continues to confuse me is this...
We all understand that society/civilisation is a construct made by people. Some (myself included) believe that those who made these rules made them in order to keep their wealth and power to themselves. I'm not going to get into that right now. What I want to know is: If we as humans made the rules and right now so many humans are struggling to feed their families and having to make choices they shouldn't... Why can't we change the rules? Yes, I know that countless families have struggled over the history of time, but I feel this year that is blatantly obvious and overwhelming on a global scale. I feel aware of the absurdity of it. Not doing something about new knowledge because nothing has been done about it before or has worked before isn't an excuse not to do something now. You'll read that and think, "Rekha, it's more complicated than that.". Well, can you please explain to me why/how we have gotten to a place in our evolution where we are prioritising a human-made construct over actual human life?
Living in a country that seems to have prioritised lives over dollars I see a lot of comments about how "extreme" a decision that is. I understand that there are going to be consequences, I don't quite understand why that should be the case. The old familiar "but that's the way it's always worked" does not fly with me. There is always a choice. We have so many incredible thinkers and problem solvers living right now.
Anyway, as I was saying, I felt so useless and dumb was I missing a big step in the whole government gives banks money to then borrow the money and be in debt from borrowing money they created process? I did what I do when I feel done these days...I Netflix (not the words you thought I'd type, right?).
I have just finished watching Schitt's Creek and Hollywood. I loved Schitt's Creek and I know I'm not alone in this and then watching Hollywood after, well it made me smile. When watching Hollywood, I found myself cringing because I was just waiting for the shit to hit the fan. I was waiting for the struggle for someone to die because of ignorance, intolerance and pure selfishness. It never came, it was hopeful, it was positive it was the world I want to see show up. It's the world I want to live in. I want us all to finally realise we are all living on the same planet there is no race to be won, there are no sides. We are all here but a minute and then gone.
We are the stories we tell and as a mother and an early childhood teacher the stories we have allowed ourselves to tell each other, well they are shit. They do not make for a kind world. I love that I'm seeing stories change. No swapping the white males in a story for a black female, that's not solving the problem, the problem is the story itself.
These stories were made for a different time, for a different purpose. These new stories are beautifully, unashamedly hopeful and positive. In a world so ready to boil over and in some places already has, I believe it's what we need. For a while, I have wanted to rewrite fairy tales that actually teach values I want my children to have. Then I realised it's not adapting what we already have because, like I mentioned earlier, it's not the characters that are the issue it's the story. Then I realised we do have the stories we need out there right now, stories like Jabari Jumps, Whoever You Are, Room on Our Rock and Kind to name just the tip of an ice burg. They are the stories we should be making part of our classic story narrative not the brutal fairy tales we grew up on. We have changed and evolved as a species (I hope), so much has changed and therefore our stories need to as well.
So, all I ask of you is to come along. Be hopeful. We might not know how to solve the problem just yet, but if we all take the energy out of being right, disengage from beating that drum and channel it into creative solutions couldn't we all live better? Can't we continue to change the stories we tell our children and ourselves? What does living a successful life actually mean and can it include success for our race as a whole? Can it include respect for the Earth we share? Can we focus on fixing what we broke before venturing outward? Can we instead of looking to belong by pointing at the Other, just belong and respect different life choices as different and not a criticism of how we chose to live? Can't we see value in all life? We are not there yet, but watching these stories that refuse to entertain the forces which make us feel helpless and alone gives me so much joy. It is stories which hold us all to a higher standard. This is who we are, this is how we are meant to be. Yes, there are those at the back that will try and make their voices loud, but we drown them out for all the joy that comes with being part of a human community. I think this is how we make it. This is how we become decent again. I love that people better than I have started the ball rolling, we just need to keep the momentum going.
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