“Now is the time.”
Like many people, I began 2020 with words like that. I felt like my life finally aligned on a good track. I looked forward to developing my career, spending more time with people I care about, creative projects etc.
Then everything happened.
Covid, wildfire evacuations, family members getting injured or sick.
I’ve had friends die, patients die and seen the effect of suicides on people I am close with.
I don’t need to argue that 2020 was a garbage year. The multitude of memes have already said it all. However, as I sit here reflecting on what has happened, I look with some anxiety towards where we go from here.
I’m not going to sugarcoat this: In the last twelve months I descended from a place of optimism and confidence about my personal future to a state of hyper-vigilance and depression. Every phone call from family, I immediately ask myself “is this another disaster?”
On my days off, I don’t want to get out of bed. By evening, my mind races looking for answers. Our world struggles with disasters and problems bigger than what any of us, individually or collectively, have yet been able to handle.
This year has taught me important and hard lessons.
And 2020 has also left me with insights that I feel are important whether or not the mainstream media talks about them. That is: We can’t keep doing this forever. We can’t keep failing to take care of our own people, prioritizing corporate profit over human beings, living in loneliness, and allowing so many people to go without the resources they need to live decent lives.
We have to build a better world than this. That’s been true for a long-time and yet there’s nothing like the collapse of ordinary life to highlight these issues in bold colors. It is my hope that 2020 will become a catalyst. That in the coming years, people will take back a great deal of their power, and begin to engineer a completely different world. We must not let the power structures that abandoned us in our times of need to define what the future “normal” looks like. People must rise and claim that power instead.
Another thing that goes with this: social distancing is one of the worst things that could happen to us. Please don’t misunderstand me: I’m not saying “avoid social distancing.” I’ve been mostly isolating myself from March to protect others. I believe this will be worth it if (and really only if) there are other solutions on the horizon. I believe those solutions will arise – maybe soon with the vaccines.
However, human beings are not really capable of “social distancing.” For one thing, this creates a horrible internal state within us. As a social species, we are not able to separate ourselves from others. Humanity only thrives through connection with others. This is as true for the economy as it is for mental and emotional wellbeing. We’ve seen careers and whole industries demolished at this point and (more importantly) people who have become depressed, disconnected and even suicidal.
For this reason we should only consider “social distancing” as a temporary adjustment. We wear masks and keep six feet apart out of service to our fellow mankind. I will continue doing my part to protect others and myself. However, this must come with another plan of action towards something different.
I keep seeing articles that say “we may be distancing from Covid for years or decades to come.” That’s untenable. We cannot ask people (especially the young, although older people as well) to give up their entire lives and futures, for indefinite decades of distancing and fear.
Let’s not pretend that the activities of life: friendships, careers, parties, groups, classes and all other forms of connection are optional. Rather they are what we live for. So we choose distancing and protections now, at this critical time, so that we might end this pandemic with minimal lives lost. Let’s not lose sight of that in 2021. There will come a time when we must consider when the need to return to social life outweighs the risk of disease (even if Covid becomes permanently endemic.)
I offer the following divination going into 2021. The rune I pull to characterize this time is Hagalaz (The Storm) and the word I want to highlight is Vision:
In times of suffering, it’s easy to seek a route to numbness. There is no blame in finding little things that make it easier for one to get through a difficult time. However, to make it out of the storm, we must also take proactive actions. For months, we’ve been riding through Hagalaz (The Storm.)
Severe torrential wind and lightning tore apart the once-familiar landscape. At every moment of calm (when the hurricane abates for an instant) we have a chance to re-connect with our vision of the land. We look to see where we are going. What do we seek to build in the wake of storm’s destruction? These questions are critical, not optional. If one does not ask such questions, they get lost in the storm. They will stumble around unaware, guided only by unconscious factors or (worse) by the powers-that-be who do not have the their best interests at heart.
This time calls for compasses and telescopes. While we want to keep the little moments of escape, perpetuating every little thing we still enjoy, we must also seize this moment to climb into a high tower, survey the landscape and ask “where do I want to go?” “What do I need and how do I find it?” I predict the key to abundance in 2021 lies in looking into that storm with great vision. This will not be easy. However, it will be worth it.
Finally, I’m reminded of a conversation I had with a friend about Miyamoto Musashi. We talked about the importance of remaining calm even in the midst of a great storm of danger. For Musashi, this meant swords and battlefields. We could certainly find the same calm within us during this time of disease.
Our great challenge lies in maintaining our own center and peace, when there is nothing about the conditions of our environment that would naturally lend itself towards such peace. For some people, this may even mean finding their inner center for the first time. What work could be more important?
2020 has taught me that still, now and always, “The time is now.” There is no other time – all we have is now. While we may need to social distance and live a difficult lifestyle for a while, we do ourselves injury by simply waiting for all of this to end. Patience becomes pathological.
Now is the time to find happiness within ourselves. There is no other. Now is the time to embrace our own destiny and take the next step down our path. No one will walk the road for us. And if we wait, we wait forever. Now is the time for vision, grand plans and actions when appropriate. Now is the time to do what is hard when necessary. And when it’s not necessary, let us enjoy as much of our lives as possible, even if it means simply watching the sun set and realizing that we have survived.
The world may “shut down” again, and yet we will continue moving forward. We flow with the life of this planet. “The time is now” will be true for 2021 and it will be true for every other year. We continue onward to weave our wyrd on this Middle Earth, into the next year and beyond.