Slaying Giants
I’ve figured out why there has been a lapse in writing inspiration. The answer at times is simple yet elusive. There seems to be a figurative game of hop scotch being played between my past experiences, present responsibilities and external influences, and future unrealized goals, objectives, and plans. My shadow runs circles around me chasing dreams, capturing nightmares, and trying its best to conceptualize this radical new world we are being force fed each time I awaken to a new day. Every morning I slip out of bed, sit at my desk, prepare for the day by picking my brain apart trying to prioritize what I want to accomplish with the 86,400 seconds afforded to me, and the one constant that stares back on me on the blue sticky note is the word: Write. Today was different though. The blue pen etched the words, “Fuck you write”. A bold statement to say to ones self, but truth is sometimes a fickle companion. It wobbles incoherently round and round speaking through various modalities as though drunk on its own twisted evolution. Where one may find truth in change or dogma or words from another person, I now find truth within me.
2020 is not a bad year nor is it a horrendous year like every social media addicted person seems to believe. Rather, 2020 is a year where people are stretched to look beyond who they are and allow long held assumptions to melt away like winter turning to spring. Personal expression has blossomed into individual voices finding new pathways to explore this brave new global experience. For the first time in history we are universal citizens united against a common enemy. Imaginary borders no longer define a culture. Communities have banded together to shelter those in need, protect the elderly and immune compromised, educate those who refuse to open their minds to new beginnings, and safeguard the principles we hold most important. Society is stronger than we could have imagined. Those who predicted the fall of humanity have been proven wrong time and time again as we continue to seek peace in the midst of conflict and embrace love when hate rears its ugly head.
In my grain of sand lifetime, I have had the pleasure of experiencing the horrific earthquake that hit Santa Cruz in the late 1980’s, Y2K, 9-11, multiple flu and coronavirus outbreaks, California wildfires, floods of biblical proportions, global wars, and I am still here. Because of these challenges, I am more grounded than ever in the belief that humanity will look up at the colossal Giants standing before them. Calmly we will bend down searching for the smooth stones from the river bottom. Once we have made our choice, we gather the force necessary to send the stone hurtling towards its intended target. No Giant can withstand our collective might as the stones sink deep into their foreheads, and thus one by one Giants fall to those who choose to stand firm.