Hope...

From a distance, news of social unrest reach our ears. Throughout the globe, the wind of transformation is reshaping the fabric of nations one at a time, gathering momentum, growing stronger. Sporadically, sparks are flying, and who knows where all this energy might lead us. Perhaps, the time is simply ripe for humanity, as a whole, to let go and take a leap of faith.

Traveling, I see much hope in what is to come. Wherever I happen to be, and no matter the cultural background I skim through, a constant remains. Today’s youth are moving with open-minds, and a bewildering ability to receive, adapt and be flexible whatever comes their way. On a quest, unburdened by the rigid framings of intellectual truisms, such as the ones that had shaped and limited those before them, they’re searching, graceful and honestly, for that which they have been denied, a grounding truth.

Born and raised in times of constantly shifting fads, of short-lived fabrications, of collapsing beliefs, of broken systems, and in continuously leading-to-dissatisfaction consumerist lifestyles, they have been toyed with, used and taken advantage of, and even today, marketing strategists are continuing to refine their craft in order to make a generous profit.

Yet, and somehow, these last couple of decades’ youth are coming around. Being conditioned to seek palpable pleasures through products tied to images of success, happiness, and even bliss, only to be disillusioned again, again, has somehow turned to their advantage, for they are naturally connected to the present moment, even if in the beginning the connection is mostly superficial.

Traveling, I meet them, and there is so much depth, and so much promise in their eyes. They come from all over the globe, to blend with ease, for theirs is a globally tied culture, where everything is possible. The rules and presented-truths of their world have changed too often, as if written on sand rather than on stone; nothing can hold them from receiving, from experiencing, and hence, from finding out what is truth and what isn’t.

Looking into their eyes, I am humbled and deeply touched by their openness, as I see all the paradigms of old, all the systems based on scarcity and fratricide that have stemmed from these fear-based ways of living, which are leading us to the brink of very dire times, crumbling, falling apart, for there is no room for them in the world of whomever is really opened to live, and be in the truth. So I have hope, because, while we once talked and discussed, and dreamt and envisioned our utopias, they are here to do and be.

Today, this is happening at the fringes, and of course, there will be resistance. But soon enough, it seems, the wind of change will pick up speed, as it is already doing, and we can either resist, and be broken, or allow ourselves to be transformed, with grace and compassion for one another. Maybe, I am just a naïve idealist… whatever the case, I truly believe that the time of ‘What’s in it for me’, is coming to a end, and soon, soon, we’ll have to join hands and hearts, be brothers and sisters, a big family, a global family, and what better time than this time.