Hope

Part of why I decided to step away from social media was because I felt as if I was being made to watch the world collapsing in real time, a little like the scene in A Clockwork Orange where Alex's eyes are being held open while he is shown a never-ending stream of awfulness. Then I realized that nobody was making me watch, that I could look away if I wanted to. Not because I want to pretend it isn't happening, but because the only way I could think of to re-establish a sense of perspective was to give myself a break from the onslaught and reset my mind for a little while.

A thought that I've been turning over in my mind is that things might not be so dark and hopeless as they seem. I know it might be hard to believe that under the circumstances, but if everything is up in the air then perhaps what we're living through is a turning point. The future is not yet set in stone. There is a chance that things might change for the better. I say that because I see the intelligence of the younger generation and I see people of my own generation waking up and seeing what they have to lose if they don't do anything. In 2016 millions of women took to the streets in protest to protect their rights. I'm seeing people taking up causes for the right reasons. It's like watching an immune reaction taking place on a grand scale. With every right that is threatened and each injustice that is brought to light more people respond with real passion against it and seem to suddenly understand why it's important to stand up for human values like love and common decency. People are starting to understand that life is not a zero-sum game in which there is a winner and a loser. They're realizing that survival or progress for them does not have to come at the expense of others. We can help each other to a better future, we just have to work together for it. This is what I'm seeing people doing now. What they're accepting and rejecting is giving me hope, especially what they are rejecting. Things like racism or colonialism or sexism. We're starting to listen to one another and finally understand.

Maybe what will happen at the end of all of this is that we will come out of it with a better understanding of how much we need each other, and how much power we really have to change tomorrow when we work together today. It's not hopeless. Right now it could go either way, but if we give it enough of a push we can tip it in the direction of a better future for everyone. We're being shown what we have to choose between. The way we've been doing things is clearly not working. When Pandora opened her box (or jug, depending on who you ask), the last thing left in it was hope after pestilence and war and all forms of human misery escaped into the world. Maybe the thing to take from that is that there is always hope. It isn't a foregone conclusion yet.