How to work with cynicism, and The Clash
We are amidst a time of great change and uncertainty, and it is too easy to fall into cynicism or apathy. Whether we are looking at the past or the future, there are always factors that humans are incapable of controlling or comprehending. Dominant culture teaches us to assess our value and ability based on external measures that hardly represent what life is actually like for most people. This is a reminder that your life is your own. No one else is living it but you. You are the measure of all success, balance, and every other socially constructed norm or standard that might make you question your value.
We live during a time on the planet when we are sorely lacking loud voices reminding us to pool our collective resources, agency, and creativity to build a world that values everyone, not just some. We do not hear calls for solidarity as clearly as we hear the language of divisiveness and idealogical rhetoric. We cannot allow ourselves to be lulled into a state of numbness, apathy, or despair. The inertia of hopelessness and the status quo is heavy and too burdensome for us to carry with us into the future. If we are caught up in the mire of attempting to rigidly preserve old ways of being, we cannot adapt to meet the ever changing conditions of life itself. If we hope to meet the coming days of the rest of our lives with vigor, enthusiasm, insight, curiosity, or joy we need to challenge the frameworks that keep us locked into old ways of thinking. We need to investigate where we are allowing possibilities to enter into our periphery and bring them into the foreground of our awareness.
There is an unlimited variety of ways to live that we have yet to explore. This is a challenge to live every day in a way that makes life more wonderful for everyone.
Inspired by The Clash - Clampdown
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