Still

A new year rolled in.

2022

Twenty-Twenty, Two.

Is this a cruel sequel to mother nature's attempt to correct herself?

I do believe so.

Coming from the perspective of someone who has been affected by health issues since before the pandemic... I can truly see that America has given up. The entire country is red with infection. Common sense is harder and harder to come by. I would ask how it came to this.. but I'm fairly sure I already know.

This new variant, Omicron.. omegatron, omega 3 fatty acids, all these new-fangled ways to talk about the variant without inciting automatic fear or defensiveness are also just ways to beat around the bush. Sure it may allow us a giggle at that moment but there is NO LONGER ANYTHING TO GIGGLE ABOUT. I miss kissing and hugging my close friends. I miss dinner parties. I miss going out to the club after getting a look together at the mall after a spree.

I recognize I still have everything I need but, humans NEED other humans to keep HUMANITY. Humility. Compassion. Empathy. And I also recognize that not everyone is as lucky to have what they need during these times. Which burns my blood to the core.

Our way of life as we know it is going to completely change because of the new variants evolving from this pandemic.

We need to get serious- This has been going on for far too long.

WE. MUST. DO. BETTER.

Personally, I wouldn't mind staying at home for the rest of my days- I have plenty to keep me occupied, satisfied, and stable. But there is a world I have yet to explore. Things I long to do but am not able to due to the current state of the world. I am meant to get married on February 22nd, 2022. I am meant to go see the ocean for the first time on my birthday, April 16th. I want to share these moments with people I love. My family. My friends.

I can't DO that if new infections carry on this same trend.

Shutdowns are creeping in again but it would seem the total sum of humanity is primarily seated in material greed. At least the total sum of humanity residing in America right now. "OH NO PANDEMIC, but you're still gonna show up for work right?"

"Wearing masks is mandatory." Few listened.

Many discredited the very scientists that spent years studying to get that special piece of paper on their wall or door from University who told us that vaccinations were the best angle of attack for a pesky virus.

It's almost like they have told us this before... Smallpox, Polio, Shingles...

It's almost as if vaccinations have been previously EFFECTIVE in the past. Spanish Flu... All of the Flu variants. What is so different about this one?

Are you scared because it was made QUICKLY.. almost like it is the proper reaction from a scientific country you'd expect to want to protect their people?

We live in the age of technology. There are processes in the past that might have taken MONTHS to complete but now can do in mere days. Technology is meant to assist us.

The current state of finances...Inflation is completely out of hand, our obsession with material objects will be our ultimate downfall.

The current state of our hospitals...beds full, doctors and nurses are exhausted from REPEATING THE SAME THING

OVER

AND

OVER

AND OVER

How to wear a mask properly IE OVER YOUR NOSE AND MOUTH, How t0 wash your hands with oh I don't know- SOAP AND FOR LONGER THAN TEN SECONDS, HOW to be an educated human being by lessening the risk of new or breakthrough infections by covering your mouth when sneezing or coughing. Using the inside of your elbow works as well.

For them, WE MUST DO BETTER

WE MUST SPREAD FACTUAL, ACCURATE INFORMATION. WE MUST LEARN TO RESEARCH FOR OURSELVES INSTEAD OF ASSUMING JUST BECAUSE IT IS ON THE INTERNET IT IS TRUE.

BECAUSE MORE OFTEN THAN NOT IT'S NOT.

False information used to scare the populations into doing one thing or another is plain and simple MANIPULATION AND ABUSE. Be OPEN to learning the truth. Be open to LEARNING that you may never be DONE learning.

The current state of our infrastructure, cemeteries, streets, rivers.. oceans...

We must do better.

Fields set ablaze with wildfires that threaten to level entire cities, states, or COUNTRIES even. Wildfires destroy what ecosystem was previously in place... displacing animals and lessening the amount of oxygen providing foliage that allows us to exist on this planet.

We must do better.

This is not just an American crisis- It is going to take ALL OF US.

Discarded masks, plastics, ropes made from non-biodegradable materials that could wrap around an innocent's neck and prove to be the end-all.

We must do better.

The fish we ingest are eating plastic.

That means WE ARE ALSO eating plastic.

What will this do to us in the long run?

We MUST Do better.

How will our children cope and continue with pollution filling their lungs because we decided we wanted paper more than trees, poisoned water running through the tap because we wanted to keep siphoning fossil fuels from deep within our planet, scared kids staring blankly at the dim future our greedy predecessors left behind.

Their eyes carry more trauma than a child should ever have to experience.

The universe is not our friend- made from chaotic stardust, supermassive events that destroy planets within a blink of an eye. Entropy is the natural state of our existence.

It is uncomfortable, blood boiling, and soul-crushing to know all that awaits us on the other side but at the same time.. knowing nothing at all.

How do these truths taste?

We must do better tastes a little bitter now but,

SUCK IT UP BUTTERCUP. WE ARE IN THIS TOGETHER WHETHER WE LIKE IT OR NOT.

Do the thing. Talk about getting vaccinated. ASK QUESTIONS. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER.

Not money.

Share the wisdom. Share the love. Share our planet.