Reap The Whirlwind
Where I live we have yet to complete our lockdown due to the virus. Now we additionally have an 8 pm curfew to further instill order.
Work has gone as well as it can go given the circumstances. My personal life has gone well too. On the rare instances I am out and about, I’m noticing an ever-more-drastic dichotomy of experiences. I’ll try to explain.
Usually in the time “BC” (before Covid), most of my experiences in public were mixed, that is to say they had high points and low points but were pretty medium when everything was summed up. Now, each experience is clearly either good or bad, with very little nuance or balance.
On the bad side, it is as if everyone and everything I encounter is pushing back hard on the world events that are unfolding. It’s like their actions are saying “We don’t care what the news is reporting, we want things to return, to be identical to 2019, and we will kill you to make that happen if necessary.”
But what if 2019 (and before) was the problem in the first place? What if we are finally paying the price for our economic, judicial, and social misbehavior? What if the cure requires more than a bandaid over society? If that’s true then pushing back will only worsen our problems.
On the other side of things, acceptance and compassion mark the experiences I label as good. It’s as if everyone and everything are saying “I know what you’re going through and I’m sorry. The bright side is this is how the planet achieves balance. Things won’t be perfect going forward, but they will get better. To teach you patience and understanding I will now be patient and understanding with you.”
I have to think this drastic dichotomy is mostly in my head. But maybe the fact I’m applying more judgment on my daily experiences says something about the world’s experiences right now. Maybe it’s time to take a hard look at what humans, especially white males, have been doing in and to the world. If our world today is the outcome, then change is long past due.
Bike Newbie 