2021 is only hours away. Probably every person on this planet is looking forward to the year 2020 moving into our past. Besides the mask mandates, lockdowns, the employment devastation, and the bizarre feeling that every human being on this planet was replaced by pod people from Invasion of the Body Snatchers or by humanistic cyborgs, 2020 will be remembered for bringing the word “COVID-19” into our lexicon. In my 46 years on this planet, I have never seen any tragic event (This includes 9/11) that has changed and had more impact on our lives than this pandemic. Despite the bombardment of bad news our media has been feeding us since March, there is one additional change in our American society that has also distressed me. What happened to our collective sense of humor? It is like a vacuum was turned on inside everyone’s home and our personalities were sucked into outer space never to be seen again. The stress of our lives caused by this virus, the lockdowns, the remote instruction (For individuals with children), the economic uncertainty, the blacklisting of celebrities and other citizens for their lack of political correctness sometimes made decades ago, and a pending sense of doom has completely eliminated the smile (Not to mention the masks) that helps get me through the day. What will be required to bring back the United States’ sense of humor? Maybe this Dave Chappelle monologue below can bring a few back. Dave Chappelle Stand-Up Monologue - SNL - YouTube I do not have the answers to these questions asked above. All I know is that 2020 was filled with more moments of hopelessness, distress, and anger than I can personally remember at anytime in my life. Violence is skyrocketing all over the country inside our urban cities. A generation of children are falling behind in their education. People are just angry, scared and sad. In difficult times like this, it is often best to pare down your life to its simplest elements. When you wake up tomorrow facing a new year, ask yourself this question. What do you have in your life that is important to you? What gets you out of bed every day and motivated to live life? In times of turmoil, these are important questions to ask. Because without that sense of joy, that feeling of love, or accomplishment, what is the point of living? I will give you a sense of my own personal life as an example of this type of reflection. Even though I blanket my life in privacy, there are so many glorious things that keep me going every day. I have a life partner of 24 years who loves me no matter how much we bicker and have fought in the past over ridiculous first world problems. I have two amazing children, a 22-year-old daughter and a 9-year-old son. Whether through an intellectual debate with my daughter about all the varieties of identity in our society and her patience with my lack of understanding about the majority of them to my son who likes to moon me whenever he gets the chance, each of my kids is unique and funny (Especially the boy) and bring me joy in their own individualistic ways. My extended family of my mother, my sister and my niece and nephew can be frustrating, but they always know that I am available to chat and visit them in Arizona when necessary. Their presence in my life has made me this complicated, piece of work. I have even learned to embrace my failures. If you are my friend, you probably get bombarded with text messages sent by me. My hope with these texts is that you learn something or research the topic with as much passion as I have. But I also know that many of these same people would probably like me to stop. These text messages are sent out with nothing but love and respect from my always curious mind. I have also been mostly disappointed with my professional career at this point. Being a person who is good at everything that AI and technology is starting to replace, I have had to maintain an open mind and change with the evolving times. Since graduating from college in 1998, my life has never been stable for any period of time longer than six years (2004-2010) before chaos engulfs me again. My super power is that I can learn and adjust my life on the fly. I never get distressed with these changing circumstances. I also know that many people perceive my intentions incorrectly. This has been an ongoing problem with my life that still has no resolution. If you could read someone’s mind, I guess that could help me resolve this problem. But perception is also very personal, and it is not my business to interfere with someone’s private thoughts. Even though these are some of my worst flaws, I still wake up every day doing my best to resolve these problems. Because without the motivation of trying to be a better person, what is the purpose of life? For all my friends, family, acquaintances, fellow work colleagues and anyone else who crossed my path throughout my life, I appreciate the impact that you have had on me whether you realize it or not. Happy New Years to everyone! Talk to you again soon!
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October 2024
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