Hey
How are things?
Depending on your beliefs and where you live, your life has potentially just changed dramatically this past week. While there has been a lot going on all around the world many Americans are now living under the looming threat of what 2025 may bring as the 45th president has been re-elected. Which can and may set American progress back by leaps and bounds, especially for women, minorities, LGBTQ+ communities, low income families, etc.
For me I worry as a black man in an interracial marriage will my rights be taken away? What about my friends and family that are in the LGBTQ+ community? I also work for someone that supports the con man that is about to run the country again, and that sometimes feels gross because it’s like I am compromising my morals for a paycheck. So there is a lot going on right now….
In addition, at this time there is still the conflict the Palestinian people are enduring, due to Israel, the war in Ukraine, there is so much happening in the world right now, and there aren’t many safe places to be.
In my personal life it’s been a rollercoaster of things going on, that have left me uncertain for my own future, so I have resolved to take each day as it comes. That’s all any of us can do really. The past is done and we can’t change it. We can learn from it and we can update existing knowledge but we fix it to improve today. Likewise the future isn’t certain or guaranteed to anyone. Regardless of what you believe spiritually you and I will die at some point, so enjoy today, enjoy the time you can with your loved ones you know?
So I have been working on strengthening my bond with some loved ones, I have started doing twitch again, working on going back to writing, continuing art, and more importantly I am in therapy. It’s not something I have verbally said to a lot of people, but if you know me and I haven’t told you, now you know.
Therapy has been good, and it’s not just working with a therapist that helps, but a combination of things. One, I laid it out for him, I’m not interested in being heavily medicated. I know it helps some folks, but I don’t want it. I would prefer natural or alternative healthcare in some situations, and he was of a similar mindset, he prefers natural medicines, herbs etc. Also Therapy doesn’t end when my session is over. I work on myself and work on unpacking and processing trauma outside of therapy. I am also Eating less junk food (not none, but less), and working on healing my inner child. My mom and aunt took great care of me physically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally but not everyone else did, and that is the shit I need to unpack and work on and work through. I still have my issues but I am doing my best to be at my best and even now my mom and aunt are my anchors, I have other friends, family I can turn to and some of them have become important pillars of strength as well, but my mom and aunt knew me before I was born, so that means something to me.
Enjoy today.
As best as you can, try to find one thing that was good about today. Even if it’s just the fact that you woke up.
I don’t believe in fate, or predetermined outcomes. Once we are old enough to make informed decisions we can manipulate our journey. We can’t always fully control it, but we can nudge it more this way than that. I couldn’t control being bullied, I didn’t understand it and it shaped who I am today, but I could change how the bullies saw me, sometimes it meant friending them, sometimes it meant having other people intimidate them, sometimes it was pointing the aggression back on them.
I survived, learned and did my best to thrive. We all aren’t so lucky. If all you can do is survive, do it. Be there for yourself at least. If you can get to a place to thrive, do it, and if you can help others thrive without condemning yourself, maybe do that too.
The world is a giant community, and how we interact in the macro trickles down to the micro, if you have a platform or power, build people up, educate people, stamp out ignorance and hatred. Love isn’t always strong enough to change people’s hearts, and if you can’t quell someone’s ignorance because their mind is small or closed, move on. We have a finite time in this existence. Even if you believe in reincarnation or some form of it (which I sorta do, it’s complicated) the current you will die someday and you may never be this version of yourself again. It happens when we grow, and develop from baby to adult. I am not who I was at 10, or 25, those were past versions of myself I may have needed to be to get to here. And as much as I have grown, I still look back fondly (sometimes) at how lucky I was growing up despite the setbacks and issues.
I got to see so many different people, backgrounds, try different foods, etc. When I worked daycare and we took kids on field trips, some of them never saw what was outside their neighborhoods. Leaving the comfort of your own home is so necessary to understand the world and discover your place in it, but be safe!
I previously kinda split myself: My blog, my art, my twitch, my spiritual practice, because I wanted them to stand alone and be successful. I’m slowly bringing those together because it makes more sense that way, why isolate parts of myself from the others? Why isolate myself from a healthy community/chosen family? So if you want to support the blog or the twitch or any of my creative outlets I will add them to the end of this post.
While it’s true I have said before that I had given up on some dreams I’ve had, it would be more appropriate to say, I have transmuted them into something similar but different. I still want to go to Japan one day, and my original plan was to study international business and move there, now I want to visit and make it part of a business here in the states. So don’t feel you have to give up on your dreams, sometimes you just need a little mental/emotional alchemy to adjust them.
With all the craziness happening in the world, make sure you have stable support around you, if you don’t, now is the time to really search for your community or build it yourself. Know who you can trust, know what your local government supports, find places you feel safe {it can be with specific people, it can be specific places, etc}.
You got this, find your Ikigai, live as your best self, and keep an open mind and don’t tolerate int intolerant.
Drink water, breathe, be kind to yourself.
Later days
~Owl
- You can find me on Instagram:
@dmsquared85 – For my toy photography
@_seekerowl_ – the IG tied to my twitch
The World Through My Eyes 