The last two and a half months have been emotionally and spiritually noxious for me, and based on my FB feed, for most of humanity. For a whole spectrum of divergent reasons. What is clear is that in the past year Covid has been weaponized by forces intent on obfuscating its deadly, scientific properties and solutions in favor of their own personal, venal agendas. They have spawned a new generation of deniers and conspiracy theorists bent on promoting their own personal agendas at the expense of hundreds of thousands of lives! Lives of mothers, fathers, grandparents, sisters, brothers, children. In short, real people. Heart-wrenching losses suffered by so many families. My empathic soul is writhing in pain…who cares if you love DT or hate him? Why can’t people transcend their own personal selfishness and care about humanity?
There are some really toxic people in power right now who seem hell-bent on ripping up the Constitution and everything it has stood for to create a world in their own image that serves their own agendas. In a nutshell, agendas based on greed and white supremacy. Too simplistic? Not for my tortured soul that is screaming into the wind for a kinder, gentler world, where we come to our senses and value life – all life – over profit, love over hate. A world where we debate issues and values with respect and decency, finding common ground and compromise instead of destructive and uncompromising dicta forced on the will of the masses.
Back in the sixties and seventies, my Bohemian friends and I had the unrealistic aspiration to make the world a better place. It was the love movement, the make-love-not-war generation. We chanted and marched with beaming, bright-eyed faces. Hope sprang eternal back then. Sadly the pendulum has swung so far to the right that it seems to have broken free from its fulcrum and soared into some netherworld of serpents writhing in pernicious gases. Lies, cruel attacks on the character of others, made-up stories aka conspiracies rule supreme in this new world. Has homo sapiens progressed or regressed? I’m thinking the answer is pretty clear.
For all the horror and death that we have suffered from Covid, there have been some silver linings in the tempest known as covid. Like the huge albeit temporary decreases in daily global carbon emissions due to reduced transportation and industrial activity since the pandemic began. But with a little bit of cognitive awareness, might we be able to adjust our behaviors just a smidge for a better planet going forward once the pandemic has been conquered? Again, for me, the answer is all too clear.
So…2021 promises to be more of the same: deprivation, isolation, illness, and death before Covid is finally laid to rest. So how to survive, and yes, even thrive knowing what lies ahead? K and I have searched deep within our hearts to find a way to not just survive but to thrive in this new age of isolationism. In my past, while praying in sweat lodges with native spiritual leaders, there was much talk of walking the Red Road. No matter what diversions or weaknesses appeared in your path, it was imperative to summon your Hero from within to stay on the Red Road and to walk your talk. Not just in words but in deeds. These life lessons resonate louder than ever now.
So for K and I in 2021, we are choosing to tap into and nourish our heroes within. For us, masks and social distancing are not punishments but a means to an end. An end to unnecessary death and misery for everyone, no matter the race, religion, or political party. Our heroes within embrace life and love no matter the cost to our immediate comforts and routines. So we plan to take long walks with our puppies, delight in the abundance of nature around us and find peace in the moment. Every moment.
As we welcome 2021, we raise our glasses to all the heroes within. May you emerge stronger and more resilient after this arduous journey of suffering.
With love and light. Namaste 💖
Jan. 2, 2021
Judy Richter 