Protest and Pivot

The sun came up gently and now the skies are clear. The temperature is 48 degrees and today is Monday.

The world is spinning wildly into a new unknown. It seems this generation's struggles are not only with the changing conditions of our planet, but with the changing relations among societies. Every generation has had to face the question of governments and their leadership leaning toward conflict over deeply complicated differences beyond customs and traditions. The political, economic, and social frameworks that societies have chosen were driven often by personalities that rose to positions of power. We can owe today's conflicts to some very visible personalities that keep drawing people into the "us/them" and broad brush generalizations that seem to work in convincing whole nations to engage in violence.

We no longer live in a win/lose reality, if ever we did. And the need for understanding how deeply connected all life is on this planet has never been greater. But the old frame keeps coming up and taking control over how options are presented. The result: more war, deeper suspicions, and an increase in delusional thinking.

This is not the Vietnam era. This is the multi-faceted global era in which the role of this country is being brought to light not just in this moment but in several decades past, operating in the name of democracy and democratic societies being superior to all other systems. But the veneer of democracy being a superior system is being peeled away as the fact of domestic civil unrest grows due to economic insecurity, a failure to promote and invest in education for the people, and a fear of new immigrants who are ready to contribute out of their desire to thrive and contribute to this country.

Unlike the past, the present has limitless access to information because of the interconnectedness of so many systems and family and friendships that span the globe, not to mention the introduction of a new source of relationships: AI. What can you hold onto through it all?

In today's reality, the role of government has been affected by huge changes that seem to be driving the kind of strong-arm leadership that has risen in many countries seeking to maintain authority and decision-making power in the hands of a few officials. But the judgment and decisions of officials is being challenged by a new generation that is raising its own ideas about the way our relations within the global community should shift.

It is a new kind of pivot that is emerging out of the protests. And we are all a part of this thing that wants to be seen and heard, but is still in formation. The birthing is like all things that have to break through: there is pain, there is struggle, there is a moment of facing death itself, and if survival is to be the result - something is born. It can be beautiful, whole, and a new start. The way it turns out will depend on the way it is nurtured, educated, and loved.