if we are to rise…
If we truly are to rise to the occasion of our times, we will need to leave passivity behind.
How we leave it behind - and what we replace it with - is up to each one of us. But if we are to evolve and become a wiser, stronger, more inclusive people, we will need to first let go any tendency toward passive, unquestioning acceptance of the stories we are told.
I had a conversation with a friend recently in which we discussed the nature of culture as story and how story is used to sell and entrench public policy and the perspectives of political parties, religions, and other social groups. Everything that is communicated is “story” and stories, of course, vary according to truth and falsehood, but they are never truly reflective of Truth with the big T. Stories are always bound in time and within the limitations of language. As such they are always subject to revisiting and re-evaluating, if we are honest.
Even science is the telling of stories ideally based on honest and logical standards (and metaphor) which should always be open to re-testing against the best knowledge of the current moment. This may at times be uncomfortable and controversial, but it is unavoidable.
If humans are to fly, the story that it’s only possible for the birds must be courageously challenged.
Our language, in large part, functions as a tool to divide and constrain. It is through language (story) that we consider the lungs as distinct from the heart, a Republican as separate from a Democrat, and infinitely onward. This is the classic double edged sword. While such limitation is surely helpful in organizing projects, systems, and societies to a certain extent, our language and our stories can also limit valid exploration, human connection, and creativity.
And of course, well crafted stories are endlessly used to promote societal directions and viewpoints that serve the interests of a privileged few. History is rife with examples. I remember my first exposures to this through Chomsky’s Manufacturing Consent. It is now outdated in the age of the internet and social media, but it remains a solid introduction to how financial and political interests craft the stories we are told and have easy access to.
Humanity is currently working overtime to obtain clarity and wise paths forward within a heavily polluted information stream. An abundance of issues are upon us from racism, covid, vaccinations, party politics, nationalism, individual liberty and responsibility, economics, food security, and more. Navigating through all this requires calm, open-minded, open-hearted consideration and more dialogue with our fellow humans, not less.
I believe if we are to actually rise to our higher potential in these unique and challenging times, we must release ourselves from those stories which would have us huddle in fear and restrict our natural human capacity for authentic connection with others and engage in life affirming solutions and new paths forward.
Let us fairly question any and every component of a proposed “new normal”. Let us question the stories, particularly those which offer enormous benefit to a few and far greater limitations to others. Let us celebrate those with other, perhaps brighter, stories to tell and give them their time to be heard. Dr Zach Bush comes to mind as a stellar example. Let us look deeply and decide for ourselves healthy, uplifting paths forward. Let us be of good cheer and support those around us in kind.
Or, if we wish, we may leave a “new normal” to the politicians, institutions, and corporations, those very same entities who have wrought so much havoc on the world already. But unless they have all experienced some grand moment of enlightenment, we can surely expect a heavier new dimension of what has already been wrought.
I would rather see brand new stories be written. I would see massive waves of creative movement arise from common people, those of us with the most at stake and who live more closely to the earth and to our nature. This is a pivotal time for us to become wiser, more focused, more effective, and embracing of each other without bias. If we rise with such good purpose, in these most potent of times, what grand creations may come.
But we must rise…
