We are not coming out of this stronger
Someone found the switch to the neon light at the end of the tunnel that says We will come out of this stronger.
According to the old adage, regardless of whether it is the great depression, the great recession, 9/11 or a global pandemic, regardless of what took us t/here in the first place, regardless of the permanent mutations each crisis injects in our DNAs, regardless of the changes needed to prevent history from repeating, regardless of all this and so much more, We will come out of this stronger.
“We will come out of this stronger”: rhetoric at its best.
Stronger yet just as vulnerable
The truth is that we can only measure our strength against our past selves and our past threats, so our “edge” is neutralized when compared to future threats, which instead grow stronger physiologically.
Bottom line, we might become stronger but we are just as vulnerable, and threats are by definition always ahead of the game. Period.
And why stronger why not wiser, more responsible, kinder, more loving, more respectful, why stronger?
Coming out and back in again
The idea of “coming out of something” is also deviating, trapping evolution in blocks with beginnings and ends, and denying the evolving continuum we are all part of.
Truth is, we should probably get over ourselves a tiny bit, and accept that evolution does not really care, nor stop to stare, that’s what humans do. Can we accept that we never went down with anything and therefore are not coming out of anything, that maybe, maybe our previous steps took us where we are right now, and that maybe we are simply evolving towards the next moment, and the next, and that maybe yes, we are not totally in control of what it is going to be like, and never will, but we have always the ultimate power to decide how we want to feel about it?
We will -never- come out of this stronger
We will come out of this stronger also neglects that as species and society we have accumulated a series of severe cognitive and learning disorders, and despite our best efforts we seem never to learn, like n e v e r.
Pick a golden fish and the satisfaction and excitement in its eyes when getting closer to the end of one more round around his bowl….We are again there, where the finish line meets the starting line. Ready, let’s get excited.
Other times, when someone said “we will come out of this stronger”, don’t ask me why but right now I have just had a vision of the face of George W. Bush, what they actually meant was: we will drop bombs here and there, forget about civilians, we will get more precise weapons, we will build walls, forget about communities, and we will make sure our armors become our second skin.
More often than we are ready to admit, We will come out of this stronger was just a camouflaged yet complete submission to FEAR. How can anyone in his or her right mind think for one second that letting fear decide can make anyone stronger?
Everything is going to be all right
We will come out of this stronger responds to that primordial human need to feel safe, we all want someone to:
1. softly caress our head from top to bottom,
2. gently adjust our hair behind our right ear,
3. look us straight into the eyes, and
4. tell us that everything is going to be all right.
We all need that place of mental and physical comfort.
If you are between the age of 0 and 15, let me reassure you one more time, we ain't coming out of this any stronger, but yes everything is going to be all right.
For all the others, aged 15 and above, let me reassure you too, we ain’t coming out of this any stronger, but yes everything is going to be all right, YET pull your socks up, because there is work to be done.
The age of (self) entitlements is over, O V E R.
What the current crisis should have taught us is that we have RIGHT to nothing (including our basic freedoms) unless we are ready to own the responsibilities every right entails.
You are responsible for the impact of your choices or for letting others choose on your behalf. Your daily choices have a tremendous impact on your life, on the lives of the people around you and in the world at large. Don’t look around I am talking to you!
So what are YOU going to do?
No, you can not build a wall high enough to protect you, and that armor you are wearing is slowly going to suffocate you because your lungs need oxygen and space to expand, plenty of it.
What role do you want to have next, what are you going to do to move away from this absurd model of infinite consumerism. Where is your responsibility in making sure this world is better for everyone because this world’s health and wealth depends on every single thought, word and action you take every single day, can we bear the individual responsibility we all have to make this world a better and more loving place for all species to live?
Bad news first: we will not get out of this stronger.
Good news: instead of stronger, how about getting out of this less self-entitled, less dependent, kinder, more loving, more aware, more present, more human, more compassionate, more connected, happier, more respectful, and more responsible? You get to choose.
