Virtual is Reality

 We are not in the Twilight Zone. We are in the 2020 zone. A year of breaking points, catalysts, and pivotal change. Globally, we have seen enough and heard enough, bled enough. Our planet is in transition, gasping and fighting back against her attackers. 

In the United States, we have seen the willfully ignorant scramble to cling to privileges they claim don't exist. They are killing people because they exist and denying that it is genocide. We have faced so many things this year alone, and now our virtual world is more real than ever. We are looking to technology to ease the burdens of our reality and our weariness. We are hoping it will keep us safe from the treats, microscopic, environmental, and violence. We are depending on each other more, though we are further apart. 

As we move into home learning for the five-year-old's step into formal education, I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to homeschool. We are working on a Kindergarten/First grade hybrid learning model and things are starting to settle into an understanding, a respectful routine for learning and growing. I understand that we are blessed beyond measure, for this opportunity, for this time together.

I am also constantly aware that my safety and my blessings come with an enormous weight. The responsibility of my calling is a constant weight. A constant gnawing at my nerves. I must speak up for the voiceless. I must call out to those in power to take action and create a more equitable world. I must do all I can to serve those who are in need. 

There are more communication resources, more opportunities to enact change more power in the individual than ever before. Though, this power goes both ways. There is more power for one dark minded individual to gain a following. That means we have to be vigilant.  The director of a human-trafficking rescue program said something profound, that she is committed to "sharing as much light as we witness darkness." I love her work and her leadership, and her soul. We must act on the impulses for good, that we may be the light and ignite the lanterns of community, service, and love. Together we can drive out hate and darkness. Together we can connect with our consciousness, being virtually everywhere, while going virtually no where. 

I know that these thought of mine are not profound. They are not unique, not vital, not most eloquent nor succinct. However, if we continue to speak them, our chorus of encouragement might change one heart, buoy one spirit, spark one idea... and those are the little things that have the power to change the world.  

So, as I sit at the dining table of my friend of 22 years, listening to our 5 year-olds playing in the living room, drinking coffee and writing this, I am aware of my blessings and the great responsibility that lies ahead.