How small is our human family? We imagine it to be so large — 7.7 billion individuals as of this writing.
6 billion was an unthinkable mark within my lifetime.
Every year that passes, the unimaginable occurs. The unprecedented. Numbers so large our little brains can’t fathom.
And yet every year we manage. Collectively, amongst ourselves. Despite our wild imaginations of impending apocalypse, human beings run wild into the future with true abandon. The abandon of independence. Reckless. Unperturbed by consequence. Heedless.
Soon, 8 million of us will inhabit our shared planet and then 9. What a beautiful independence. What wonderful abandon. Welcome your brothers and sisters for what they’re to bring.
Cities bursting with color & life. Farms of immense dignity keeping the world fed. Families crisscrossing lineages and sprouting joyful novelty. Laughter. Dance. Memory.
Remember the future.
We tell ourselves how dark the present is because we’re certain it must be dark. As the global community truly becomes one, attains a more holistic consciousness through our communication, the light of experience will grow more rich.
How many people actively consider how much our imaginations are not quite our own. Our brains run on the environment they’re immersed in. Each person’s imagination is shaped by what it’s exposed to: the faces of loved ones, the way we move from one place to the next, the movies, news, tweets, languages, songs, symbols and images we inundate ourselves with.
Doom is popular right now. And who can blame us?
A pandemic. Political instability. Crime. Corruption. Violence. Guns. Gangs. Terrorists. Immigrants. Donald Trump. Joe Biden. Vladimir Putin. Victor Orban. Abi Ahmed. Angela Merkel. Famine. Fire. Flood. Malnutrition. Climate change. Coups. Conspiracies. Facebook. Globalism. CRT. BLM. White Identitarian Terrorists. Neo-Nazis. Neo-Confederates.
Etc.
Imaginations hijacked by an incessant flood of anxiety.
The present moment will pass. Change will replace present anxieties with fresh new ones. That is assured. Given our short lifespans & propensity to grow, COVID-19 will soon be an afterthought of experience to those who survived.
Just like 9/11. Or 12/07. Or 06/19.
What we forget is never truly forgotten. The past runs through each of us in extraordinary ways. Never forget because history is experienced once, but trauma travels through time.
Our family is smaller than we imagine. Take a chessboard. Place a grain of wheat on one corner. Next to it, place two grains. Next four. Then eight. Watch how quickly 8 billion springs abundantly.
All from one family.
Whether we know it or not, the family will survive. We won’t, but it will. What kind of path we’ll take to get there is up to us.
