When the Clouds Part

Photo by Andreas Kind on Unsplash

I wonder: Where will we be in five years from now? Ten? Twenty? Of course I wonder about which human rights I’ll have maintained, which countries will have fallen into the grips of authoritarianism, and what state our precious topsoil will be in. But more than anything, in this moment, I wonder where we will be in relationship to one another.

At the moment, a thick cloud hangs above and between us. We are divided on many fronts - pro-vaxxers and anti-vaxxers, liberals and conservatives, racists and anti-racists, people who believe in science and those who don’t. That’s what they’re trying to sell us, anyways. When I say ‘they,’ I’m not quite sure who ‘they’ are. It’s probably more likely that ‘they’ is a movement of energy that has consumed the mainstream media, which has, as media does, consumed us.

A Growing Intolerance

The narrative of ‘us versus them’ is pervasive and seems to have dug itself deep roots over the past year and a half. Prior to March of 2020, I remember a time when those on the left and those on the right could be friends, could debate (fiercely, for sure) over a couple of glasses of wine and a good meal. Now, it feels like our doors are barred shut, with signs that read, “Alternative views not welcome here.” People are unfriending and unfollowing based on political views, with one survey showing that 61% of Americans had unfriended, unfollowed, or blocked someone on social media because of political views, posts, or comments. In regards to unfriending on Facebook specifically, 36% unfriended someone based on political views/posts/comments in 2018 as compared with 39% in 2020.

And that is within our right - and to some extent, I understand it. None of us are bound to maintain contact with people who do not uplift, inspire, or nourish us. But I think there is something deeper at play - an intolerance growing for perspectives that do not match our own. It is ironic in an age that advocates for inclusion because when it comes to varying perspectives and beliefs, it appears that inclusion is less likely to apply.

Ignorance of Our Inherent Complexity

It is a thick, grey cloud of ignorance, one that I am not unaffected by. It hides away our humanity and pretends that life is black and white. In The Undefended Self, Susan Thesenga writes:

"We constantly see ourselves and life as either this or that, rarely allowing the complexity and vastness that we are capable of experiencing. We define ourselves and others in terms of the dualities our minds are structured to recognize. Hence we label ourselves and other people as either good or bad, happy or unhappy, either sane or insane, either trustworthy or untrustworthy… On the social level we need to challenge the either/or mentality that has produced wars and the mentality of war, in which our relationships with other people are reduced to the simplicity of seeing everyone as either an ally or an enemy.”

This book was published in 1993, with my current edition having been published in 2001. It goes without saying that this is not a new concept. However, it does feel that our divisions are intensifying. The global pandemic, which could have been an opportunity to unify, has separated us into 'truth tellers’ and ‘conspiracy theorists,’ ‘pro-vaxxers’ and ‘anti-vaxxers’. These are labels that I imagine mean something to almost the entire world. When has this ever been the case?

The problem with these labels is that they completely disregard the complexity of this situation - and of life. What is truth? What is conspiracy? Do we have to take an unwavering stance on something as important as health and vaccinations? It seems in contradiction to what wisdom traditions encourage us to do - to remain flexible, open, and unattached. But then again, wisdom traditions are not something most of us were raised with. ‘Wisdom’ is not a fundamental component of modern culture, that much is evident.

On an individual level, I believe most people can sense that there is more nuance than is being sold to us - and yet still, these labels persist. Labels such as those mentioned are convenient. Journalists, publishers, readers, listeners - no one needs to do the difficult work of digging deeper… of getting curious.

Will We Realize The Error In Our Ways?

When the clouds part, which I must believe that they will, will we recognize what we were missing? Or will we remain steadfast in our conditioned perspectives, unwilling to give an inch? This afternoon I had a strong sense that we’re all hurting - that we’re all feeling a little misunderstood, a little raw, a little vulnerable. What will it take for us to open our hearts to that humanity and to that humanity as it exists in others?

Because when the clouds part, I hope a light will shine on the ways in which we have forgotten one another throughout this pandemic - how we have forgotten what it means to be human, to be compassionate, to be alive. Here’s to brighter days.