one wild and beautiful action
February 18, 2022Yesterday my daughter applied to renew her passport. In a fit of hope and optimism after years of repeated set backs, she put on a mask for the photo that will capture her life experience so far. She suffered through the detail of the process to enable an aspiration that has been two decades in the making.
Graduating with a masters degree in covid interruptus, she has learnt and earnt that hope. Robust yet cautious, her small steps will take her into the real world on this one planet. Her experience over the previous two years being physically in her room when she was present in the world digitally.
Learning how to ‘human’ in real face time again might be challenging emotionally. As we who have lived differently before, know that travel is, oh, so worth it for personal growth and learning to relate to others.
The building frustration, the continued conflicts, the isolation — the years of covid interruptus experiences has changed what I desire, how I relate, what I can even contemplate happening. What I choose to do each day. The uncertainty — the seemingly endless loops of change in how I can exist for everyone’s sake.
Like my daughter, I dream about having the freedom to explore the globe again. In the meantime, I have the privilege to earn locally so I can save for my future, hopefully for my travel.
How are you to reconcile your life plans from here? To get on with it? How do you stay awake, avoid narrowing attitudes and interests, othering, keeping your dreams translating into living pursuits? How do we even contemplate something brighter amidst the predicted decline?
Contemplating adjacent futures leads me down many paths, some full of sunshine and faith in the commons of sense; and others full of foggy despair. Paths that can sometimes be too dark to even see my feet on the track or want to drag myself forward around the pitfalls.
Isn’t it easier to just be, as one being? To condense my desires to now? To love individuality, act locally, think globally. Locally and more consciously, I connect and contribute. I contemplate the many possible futures collaboratively and with positivity.
Could our futures be made by us being wildly hopeful and applying the 4 r’s – respect, relationship, reciprocity and resilience?
Have hope for the people and creatures on this one wild and still beautiful planet. Take action to make the wild and beautiful happen. I call on you to make that one wild and optimistic action today.