I don’t know about you, but every day I wake up I expect the unexpected. That is a general rule I follow, so if it happens I’m not disappointed. I am a creature of habit and compelled to schedule, no doubt, but my composure comes from my faith in my ability to adapt to whatever falls from the sky or springs from the Earth into my life, not my success at securely mastering my environment. Why? Because it’s much easier to move to higher ground when it floods than control the weather.
Another reason I don’t panic is I know there is nothing that is going to happen that hasn’t happened already to someone. Whenever I hear the words “this is unprecedented” I look to the history books to find not only if, but how often this unprecedented thing has occurred before. I used to ask old people too but now I’m one of them and people are asking me, so I’ll pass along some things I learned long ago.
There have been many, many pandemics in recorded history. In 1918 was most recent famous one, and I was told first-hand account stories of what it was like to live through it, and yes, most people lived through it. If you read the newspaper articles and other documents of the time you will find them eerily similar to what we are seeing now. It has definitely happened before. People were saying it was a hoax, God’s wrath, the economy would never recover, personal freedoms were gone forever, and life in general would never be the same.
Then guess what happened? The Roaring Twenties. Civilization did not end or become less vibrant, it erupted. Women cut their hair and raised their hemlines, and condoms ushered in a new wave of sexual freedom. The deed was often done in the back seat of a Tin Lizzie, as car ownership became within the reach of millions. Jazz exploded; the first blatantly artistic rebuke of the nation’s racial structure ever detonated. Men were expected to know how to dance. The night was lit up for the first time, and the nation became wealthier than what could have been imagined a few years before. A crash was coming, but aren’t they always?
So what will it be this time? We are due for a new form of music to take hold and re-mold the social landscape, something folks over thirty just won’t understand. I predict yoga pants get cut off mid-thigh or higher, and after a few more weeks of the salons being closed, women will whack off all but a few inches of their hair as well. I’m too old and stodgy to guess at the new technologies, since I will refuse to use them anyway, but the folks that will listen to the weird stuff they’ll call music won’t be able to function without them. I plan on shaking my head as they float by, or however they’re conveying themselves.
So sit back, relax, and take a few more weeks off, because what’s about to happen is going to be fast and furious and you’ll need your rest. Gloom and doom will be replaced with raucous madness if history repeats as it incessantly does. You don’t want to get left behind arguing about what was real and what was illusion. It’s all illusion all the time. You have never been more secure than your next breath, and never will be. Serenity can only come after acceptance of each one you draw being a miracle.
Namaste.