Coming Full Circle: Reclaiming our Lives and Communities
To find truth and answers in the age of deception and misinformation, we simply need to follow this timeless adage: words don’t matter, only actions matter, as truth lies in actions.
Our house is engulfed in flames and we are scrambling to escape. Outside, once all the humans have been accounted for, everyone makes a call to 911, but no help is on the way. There are simply no firefighters available to douse the flames. Our only option is to sit there and watch the house burn to the ground.
Doesn’t the world feel like this right now? Given everything that is happening, it should be painfully obvious that all our systems of governance are under control of negative forces. The general population is forcibly being awaken to the amount of evil presently out in the open creating chaos in our lives. Encouragingly, it appears a significant number of people are putting the puzzle pieces together of how we are systematically having our world, lives, and rights destroyed. Thus, things are progressing, but the question is, are there enough people now finally willing to take direct action to reclaim our lives? It is one thing to acknowledge problems and boy are people good at generally complaining about things, but you need to enter a completely different universe to actually move on from complaining and even move beyond protesting, to taking proactive action for real change.
Most people understand that simply complaining and pointing out problems never solves anything. However, the harsh reality is that even well-organized protests—even the ones that are able to attract massive amounts of people—ultimately do not solve a thing. Direct action to create new forms of governance is the only way to meaningfully move the needle.
Illustration by Jillian Semesnyei
It is not rocket science. You just need three things to create any world we want to have: courage, an open mind, and love. Real change for the better will occur when enough people come together who have trained their brains to automatically think about how to get around a particular obstacle instead of focusing on the obstacle itself.
There are no shortcuts in life. Yes, our house is on fire; however, there is currently no grassroots support network in place that is strong enough to put it out and push aside the evil forces that are in charge and replace them with good leadership that guides us to a better future. Crucial elements are forming but there is still a ways to go. Sports fans know intimately that you can’t build championship teams overnight and you have to start by having the right foundation in place. You cannot start spending on expensive free agents and expect to be successful if you don’t have the foundation in place first, namely, the correct philosophy, the right leadership, and actual buy-in from everyone in the organization. Once that is in place, then you can start methodically building the team so that there are no weaknesses.
We just collectively need enough of three things to create any world we want: courage, an open mind, and love.
The fight to retain and reclaim our civil liberties needs to occur on all fronts. I strongly believe in the political piece of the battle for our future—the great need for a huge wave of truly independent and brave individuals that are willing to sacrifice by running for office starting at the local level to better help bring to light various issues. Voting is the bare minimum responsibility of living in a free society. Real democracy requires constant engagement and sacrifice. Much of reality is not covered by social media or traditional media.
When the internet exploded onto the scene in the 1990s, there was a tremendous feeling of excitement that it would bring about an unprecedented increase in freedom, enlightenment, citizen engagement, and true democracy not just in America, but worldwide. Unfortunately, what has developed is quite the opposite, with a fusion of power between government, traditional media, big tech, the intelligence/spying community, and global corporations. We are not only being censored in real time, but existing info on the internet is being scrubbed away forever at a startling clip.
How to counteract? As mentioned, there are no shortcuts in life. Even though our house is burning down and we do not have firefighters or water available to put it out, our focus primarily must be on building a grassroots movement the right way from the ground up. In short, citizens must take on the role of volunteer investigative journalists, publishing via underground newsletters and releasing on social media/websites their local-level investigations; regularly meet at political pub gatherings and zoom meetings; combined with a huge surge of truly independent-minded people running for office starting at the local level.
The idea of active and independent citizens running for local office, meeting for political conversations at town pubs, and investigating the activities of their local government, sounds quite old fashioned, but it is and always has been the way to run our democracy. This is the meaning of the idea of coming full circle with regard to our democracy and reclaiming our lives for the better.
The Internet Age has been both a blessing and a curse. It has allowed for a tremendous amount of information sharing and enlightenment, but in a way, it has helped create complacency and put us to sleep.
The number one indicator of successful achievement in life is not money, status, smarts, grades, job, raw talent, or looks -- it is the amount of perseverance a person holds. It’s the same with political movements. It is all about developing a plan and fully executing that plan no matter what via relentless perseverance, with a healthy side of flexibility until things finally catch hold. The latest quote at my family’s kitchen chalkboard is a homegrown special for our football-obsessed boys. It is the best single piece of advice I can think of to give as a dad for football and for life in general: “Tackling guys (challenges in life) is fun. Football (life) is fun. Now go out there on the field and have some fun.”
Life is a fun challenge and adventure. Let’s seize the moment.
God is asking us to straighten our backs, step it up, and rise above. The signs are clear as day and everywhere. Whatever you think the capacity is for individual influence or for society and communities to change is, times that level by one thousand. Everything is changing, but it is a reflection of all of us and where we all decide to focus our energies. It’s now or never, as we are on the edge of a new-aged Great Depression and potential for nuclear WW3. If the threat of another Great Depression and WW3 doesn’t spur you to overcome your fears to speak out against standard leadership and overcome your fears to break away even in the slightest from the comforts of the herd, nothing ever will. Democracy treated like a spectator sport leads to disaster. The good news is, there is a positive awakening and rising happening everywhere now. The damn has burst and there are endless opportunities to make a real positive difference despite all the scary headlines.
A Poem and a Prayer
Dear Sun Crystal:
When the path before me is dark as night, you are the ever-burning torch that lights the way.
When marauders are banging at my iron gate, you are the lock that keeps my boundaries safe.
When my pilot light flickers, on its last breath, you are the matchstick that helps reignite.
When I am down and puddled in a heap, you are the guided hand upon my back, that raises me to my feet.
When my lungs become full of ash and soot, you cleanse my breaths and clear the air.
When I have lost my direction and faith, you hand me the map that reminds me to follow my unencumbered heart, and not my confused mind. For it is you who has journeyed with me-day in and day out, my seasoned traveler. It is you whom I want to express gratitude. It is you whom I want to thank.
Thank you, Sun Crystal, for the chance to shape my own destiny and the path of humanity. It is you that I am forever grateful for.
By Mavin Warier and JS
Oftentimes, people excessively worry about which words they read are the truth and which are “fake news” or “misinformation.” In an age of too much talk and deceptive language, the good thing is, we just have to worry about that age-old truth: in the end, words don’t matter, only actions matter, as truth lies in actions.
I would like to convince RFKJR to uncouple from Trump and go on doing what he can to end the corporate capture , restore honest government, and fix the unhealthy food problems we are experiencing.Trump has a not the solution