My YouTube and internet research time these past four or five fortnights has soared and taken up the lion's share of my screen viewing, but the subject matter has hardly been relaxing or soothing. So my avoidance of the mainstream media covid frenzy or international intrigue plotlines have not been to avoid unease or discordant thought and emotion - in fact, it almost feels like I've traded one brand of frenetic and panicked uncertainty for another deeper and more insidious brand.
All in the name of truthseeking and spritual uplift.
You see, I don't trust the news anymore. Sure, there's plenty of truth and hard hitting traffic footage or feel good stories of people working their hardest to make community from within the cacophony, but I am firm in the belief that the corporate masters of the networks carefully create and disseminate messaging to keep us in rank and file manageability and the sugar hangover bliss of consumerist pursuits. Just enough of a taste of liberty to flare our nostrils and twig the the depths of our visceral and vibrant genetic history and spark little bursts of hope and faith in the safety and sanctity of the societal fabric which, in theory, shields us from the ills of the world.
And though the pursuit of truth is not mine alone, and is surely shared by any eye that might read this little gurgitation, the ability to discern the real from the false is a challenging enterprise, what, with all the sources of information and knowledge now at our disposal. And the simple fact that every word spoken into cellular tech or typed or overheard by the various microphones that surround us every day ("Siri, is that you?") is funnelled into incredibly complex systems of artificial intelligence to ensure they land softly in the world created for our consumption and don't impede whatever master plans those in positions of power might have in store for us.
Yeah, so my quarantine has been a whole lotta fun. lol
But truly, what am I am learning through these last couple months is the journey into my own consciousness and various layers of self, acquired through nature, nurture and such social programming gems as Sesame Street, A-Team, Winnie the Pooh, Kahlil Gibran, Call of Duty, etc.(my funny little way of saying "environmentally wrought egoic imaginings of identity"), is that this inner truthfinding attention is the most important work that I will do in my lifetime.
The quiet that has ensued after turning off the TV eight weeks ago, and keeping my social media surfing and current event awareness to a fairly tiny fraction of my day's energies has been revelatory and invigorating.
My heart is opening and my spirit is beginning to sing in tones I've not heard before.
I am discovering that my inner sanctum of awareness is built with a sacred and unending love of all things, people, creatures great and small, both known and unknown.
It is not easy to remain in this state of awareness.
Sometimes I stub my toe and curse to high heaven; sometimes I crave a visceral hit of something with a little more potency than a breath with careful attention focused inward - so I hit the chocolate fountain, the fridge, my portable garden, cigarette pack, etc.. and my Zen like awareness of the OneLove philosophy slips away.
Never for long. Like the tide, it glides back into my frame of cognition and fills the empty spaces left in me from my straying ways...
And so, this brings me to my reason for writing this piece:
I have been remarking how effortlessly, and in fact, how almost rehearsed or planned this Covid 19 global consciousness shift was perpetrated upon us and how simply and effortlessly we changed our ways and our thoughts and feelings to embrace the recommended responsible actions and accommodate a new thought and reality placed in our paths.
Now, with only weeks behind us, we are practiced hands at social distancing, (refusing to hug our loved ones in simpler language), staying home from work, being fearful of strangers, esp. ones with a cough, even wearing masks to conceal our unique features and become faceless threats to each others well being.
Wow.
In short, we have adopted a new way of seeing the world and established new ways of seeing ourselves in the world. And all in a few short weeks.
We treat each other differently, and have changed our lives in so many ways because the little electronic boxes in our homes and in our hands told us we should. They showed us bodies (well they showed you, cuz I never really looked), crowded hospital rooms, serious looking pie charts and graphs, microscopic photos of a scary looking microbe and every one of us became amateur, home trained epidiemiologists.
And now, as I tuck myself into bed, I want to leave you with one question:
What would happen if all the talking heads, the news reels, the CNNs, CBCs, social media information sites, politicians, academics - all the sources we've been conditioned to believe and trust and derive a sense of safety from - what if they ALL reported the truths that we all know to be true in our hearts?
That love is the salve that might cure all the ills of the world. That hope, love and faith, when used in proper dosages, can stem the decay from cancer; can reverse the damage inflicted by trauma and abuse; that the greatest gift we can give the world is action framed and originating from a place of self love.
"Good evening. I'm Anderson Cooper, and tonight the truth is finally laid bare: Our connection to God and Mother Earth comes from inside our very own hearts. And that if this truth is realized and worked at through millennia old practices like yoga or meditation or even prayer, can unite the world in more harmonious fashion, and create grace and space for each and every one of us.
"Joining us is Wolf Blitzer, on location at Mount Sinai hospital in NYC, where breakthrough new group vibrational alignment therapy is working to relieve huge numbers of patients ... "
Etc., etc.
I don't mean to sound glib or like a tinfoil hat loonytune. But I can't just sail along on this 75000 km/hour ball of rock and water and hurtle through the cosmos with you lovelies any more and not call bullshit on the societal narrative that I've been corralled into believing.
Imagine if the world's media and governments got behind such enterprises as solving hunger and poverty, quit hoarding the wealth and resources among the elite, and worked on humanistic truths that every single one of us hold in our hearts.
We stopped the world in a matter of days.
Because the TV told us to.
All I ask is that you listen to what your heart is telling you to do and try to still the waters of your mind to let that happen.
With love.
S.
