Welcome to my first official blog post! To say I am excited that you have taken the time to explore the facts, thoughts, and experiences that I have to share, would be an understatement. The idea of truly delving into the social media space (to include blog posting and podcasting), has haunted me for years. The God honest truth is that my perceived fears of inadequacy and criticism, in the face of friends, family members, peers, and strangers, crippled me to the point where it took me two and a half years to publish this first post.
If you know me personally the above admission will probably come as a shock to you, as I pride myself in ALWAYS having the confidence to attack a challenge head on, and overcome it with stoicism. Although I do not study stoicism on a daily basis, and have much to learn about the intricacies of the Greek philosophy, I can say with certainty that it has subconsciously guided my life to the point where I find myself today. If you Google the definition of Stoicism, you’ll find the following: the endurance of pain or hardship without the display of feelings and without complaint. I realize the latter definition is in direct conflict with the last sentence of my first paragraph (Hey! I didn’t say I was perfect!)
My Vision of our Society
The older I get, the more I’ve been able to take a bird’s-eye view of the world. That is, taking a step back in order to see the bigger picture. I am an optimist at heart, and strive to look at the cup half full versus half empty. However, my life experience has enabled me to balance my optimism with an objective and realistic perspective. There’s seldom a day where two things don’t happen: 1) I feel amazed and prideful at the unprecedented rate our society evolves and expands; 2) The latter feelings are immediately eclipsed by observing how love, humility, respect, accountability, and community are being stripped away from society as fast as we evolve. The worst part about the above realizations is that we are allowing the progress in (1), to consciously blind us from the realities of (2).
Current Realities
Needless to say, the current status of our society consistently makes me ask myself why things are unfolding the way that they are. Currently, the world is in a health crises stemming from the COVID-19 virus. As of this post, there have been (6,170,556) confirmed, (2,642,188) recovered, and (372,099) death cases around the globe according to John Hopkins University. Simultaneously, the United States is in turmoil over the apprehension of George Floyd (African-American male), while in the custody of Minneapolis Police Department Officer Derek Chauvin (Caucasian male). As of this post, Mr. Floyd succumbed to the use-of-force applied during his apprehension, and former Officer Chauvin has been arrested and charged with third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter.
The significance of both of these events within the United States (US), are that they are real reminders of societal issues that exist in our history, but have yet to be resolved in current times. The medical and economic infrastructures of the US need to be revamped, to be able to handle the demands of patients in need of care, while simultaneously ensuring that the US economy does not shut down again. The existence of national racism and non-ethical use-of-force by police departments, need to be purged so as to increase the cohesion and unity within our communities in the US. None of the issues presented will be resolved overnight, but there are an OVER-ABUNDANCE of things that we can do in our day to day lives to fix the issues overtime.
Call to Action
It is in focusing on the things that we can control daily, that will create compounding effects over time in our personal lives, and in the lives of our community members. However, before we can get to the macro, we need to focus on the micro: you and I. We have the ability to control many aspects of our lives, regardless of the environments that we find ourselves in. To understand the former and latter, there are two things we need to understand: 1) You are not a victim of your circumstance; 2) Life does not owe you a damn thing. Still with me? Good. I’m honored to invite and accept you into the Tribe of Instruists: Agents Leading Change movement. In this journey, we will do what is necessary to grow and evolve as individuals, in order to uplift and elevate our communities.
Connect With Me
If you want to find out more about Tribe of Intruists as a movement/organization, or myself, please click here. Otherwise, please feel free to follow/ get in contact with me via the TOI blog, podcast, or social media pages here. Thank you for taking the time to read this post. The best is yet to come!
Seize the day, seize your life, and we will seize our communal tribe together!
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