“However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light.” – Stanley Kubrick
The last few days have been turbulent for the country and nation. Opinions have been divided, demonstrations have brought many together. We’re all waiting to see what happens next. There’s an uncertainty but also a belief that we can make a difference and so we’ve come out in droves to express ourselves. That’s democracy in a young, complex nation.
I type this after a party in a friend’s house where there was too much cake, lots of libations, a cozy warmth and an eagerness for the year ahead. This morning I saw a man on a sidewalk wearing a light lungi which was blowing in the chilly wind, a face that had never known too much cake and the stark certainty of knowing that the coming year would be as cold as this one. Power, justice, the right to be seen and heard are denied to most because of the accident of birth.
Dark thoughts in the face of the ubiquitous Christmas cheer, but I had to share them, lest we forget our own power to change the things we can, and the danger in becoming complacent with those that we cannot.