LOOKING UP
Reality is rarely good enough for me. Historically, I’ve tried to manipulate it, dress it up, and run away. Nothing changes the truth of the matter. People say that mind over matter can mitigate this, and I don’t fully disagree. Sometimes I feel on top of the world, and everything around me suddenly reflects that. But when it's raining in my head, or on everyone else, life becomes a monsoon. Forgive me if I seem a bit delusional.
Isn’t it strange that we’re all having a singular, collective experience in such isolated ways? Everyone alive right now is living through and/or hearing about the world’s largest current events, while handling the cards they were personally dealt. Simultaneously, no one perceives anything identically: different feelings, thoughts, beliefs, and actions, or lack thereof. We’ve all become enmeshed in digital spaces yet so untethered in tangible ways. Social media is both a beacon of clarity and an instigator of further confusion. Everyday life appears to be conflated with the worlds within our screens.
Mother Nature struggles to hold her hand out, requesting a truce or assistance—And we eagerly gun it down; Or burn, cut, and drain it. Whatever we’re in the mood for, I suppose. Humanity seeks ease and comfort through irreparable means. We destroy the tender elements that love us for the sake of inventing a device to repair them. How ironic. It’s similar to the way surgeons must cause trauma to the body to heal it, except surgeons have no other choice, yet.
We forget that we’re meant to experience the slow, inconveniencing, and beautiful unpredictability here. That we should care, fail, and persist despite the disaster. Our bodies should feel bugs and dirt landing on our skin. Eating is meant to be an intentional, hands-on process—from selecting ingredients, preparation, cooking, and serving. EATING TOGETHER WHILE ENGAGING MEANINGFULLY. Without community, we are the most vulnerable. And I can’t even say we’ve lost the plot, because we never had control over the outcome.
These new-age illusions of certainty keep us wrapped in a false sense of safety and conditional peace. Every day, the harsh truths become harder to ignore and sugarcoat. When something is rotting from the inside out, what do we do? How can we grieve, cope, and begin again all at once?
