“This is what life feels like.” S.M.E

The time is here. A timeless phrase. The time is ours, a motto of voices for justice. The time is theirs, a stark reality we often fail to acknowledge.

All this is true, which means all things are possible. We can continue living in a world in which we are placed in opposition to one another, in opposition to life. We can continue living in a world that results in the fast kill and slow death of the living world. We can continue living in a world where narcissism and self-pursuit are our highest occupations. A world where we find wisdom in doing nothing. A world where we dismiss opposing voices as fringe and crazy. We can do all of this. Or we can listen to their voices. Understanding that our liberty and freedom can only live when the oppressed are liberated and those in power reconcile their injustice.

We can choose to rebuild our communities with united minds and hearts. Communities which don’t require a constant reminder of power, control and violence. We can decide together how to act as citizens, determining which ideas can be left to representatives, and which decisions we are personally responsible for. There are some decisions that cannot be outsourced without dangerous compromise. This may be true of all decisions.

After we reform our communities and reclaim our responsibilities – or before all this happens – we will require courage. The same courage it requires a bird to fly for the first time. The same courage a fish taps into swimming upriver to find home. Like a bear waking from hibernation, trusting the fruits of spring will feed her for another year. Like the eagle who knows the sun rises early at the dawn of a new day.

As, Andrew H.K said:

 “This is a book, it is definitely a book.”

That’s all I really know. All I will tell you…

I don’t know what words these pages hold. I don’t know if I’ll feel hope, fear, sadness, joy, despair or happiness in these pages. I’m sure I’ll feel all of these things. This is the feeling we seek through hours of drinking and eating and smoking and walking, talking, watching, hearing and all the other things we do. This is what life feels like.

I hope the words in this collection will spark you. I hope you will remember those brief moments when you lived a life that was yours; when you sought your own truth. I hope you will listen. I hope you will converse – a line here, an idea there. I hope you will act your truth, and bring some friends along.