Do You Talk To Yourself?

Do you talk to yourself?

Oh God, here we go. You know they have other things to worry about right now than silly questions of the such! One would think you had more important things on your own mind than being rhetorical with someone you don’t even know.

Oh, you hush it, you. I’m trying to engage the reader and share a moment of introspective thinking. That’s the reason I started this blog and share my finger taps with all of them, so the reader and I can escape for a moment and go to a place that is not “here”.

Introspective thinking? Really? You and who? Them out there? All the ghosts of the future on the other end of this invisible line? You think they are really going to sit down and partake in an imaginary journey with the likes of you? A nobody? Good luck, Mr. Impossible. Looks like you need to quarantine your common sense away from your pandemic dream.

Well, I don’t think you give some of the people I know, and do not know, the credit they deserve. The free minded people out there are the failsafes to end all failsafes. I like sharing these little moments with them, and I like when they reciprocate their experience back to me. A writer is only as good as the material he reads, watches, absorbs, and dissects.

Yeah, true, but your effort is in vain, there, sir. There’s only one question at hand while this crisis is going on. At the end of the day when you look into the mirror and see a new wrinkle the world has blessed you with, or when you look at your reflection and stare into the nebulas of your eyes, or when you scoff at the image of what you have become in this timeline, there is one underlying humanistic theme that remains up in the air.

Yeah, what is that, oh wise one?

How long will it take the people to forget about all of this after everything calms down and gets back to whatever the new norm may be? Do you think it will take a year? Two years? Maybe more? Maybe less? Humans tend to follow a pattern and rarely do they break from it. Some patterns shuffle while others repeat. It’s all inevitable, friend. Before you know it, we will be celebrating the fifth anniversary of the Coronavirus and people will have to fight to remember what this moment actually felt like.

People who have contracted the virus or lost someone due to this virus will never forget about this, buddy. People are not as dense as you think they are. Most of them are resilient creatures that can change and adapt at the click of their thumb and middle finger. You can try to discredit that fact, but you are only going to make yourself seem self righteous, judgey, or even worse, naive.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, you always have an answer for everything, don’t you? You would make a good defense attorney. You know that? And me, being naive? What does that make you then, dear reflection? What you fail to realize is the fact that even though the norm has been shifted, people will remain the same.

I never said that people were not hard headed and stubborn, myself included, but I think you are underestimating the entire situation, considering this virus is a global pandemic. I think you are out of line with this particular observation, and maybe you are the one who needs to proofread himself before the red pen touches the paper.

Oh really, wise one! How long will it be before this virus becomes a punchline to a joke like other past tragedies that are now, all of a sudden, horrifically humorous? Is the world that short on material? How long will it be before race wants to fight race again and see how many viable causes we can pit against one another? How long will it be before we start focusing on the lettering of someone’s orientation before seeing that person as an individual human soul first? How long will it be before we see whose religion wants to be the greatest and most supreme ideology in all the land, with its way being the one and only way? How long will it be before we see whose political party is the most honest and pristine when electoral focus rolls back around? How long, my misguided friend, will it be before we are back to the same cycles and old ways of what used to be until the next big tragedy comes along and shakes our little snow globe of life?

Well, I don’t think that argument is fair because not all people are like that. You are generalizing a very large group to your standard ideal, over an estimated seven point eight billion people to be exact. We are going to rise above this calamity. We are going to prepare for a brighter future. We are going to overcome hardships and obstacles. Together, all of us are going to unify and make Earth a better place.

Like all of you were doing before this happened?

The past is just progress.

And it got all of you where?

To the present, a place where we can raise the flags of the world together and fight in taking down a global enemy.

Where is that going to lead you, friend?

To a future life with endless possibilities.

Since you are taking this stance, I can imagine what the people were thinking in 1918 during the Spanish flu. I bet one poor sucker was thinking, ‘well, by gosh by golly, I think because of this, one hundred years from now, humanity is going to be stronger and brighter and more unified than we can possibly imagine. We are going to show this world what we are truly made of. We are people. Hear us roar!’

You’re being a prick.

What does that make you then?

Let me tell you about the people I know. The people I know storm foreign beaches in the midst of war and charge into the unknown in support of another country. The people I know grow gardens, give out free food, and check on their neighbors at least once a week. The people I know do not wait for a path to open up but create one either individually or as a group. The people I know will work from sun up to sun down just to make sure their family is taken care of. The people I know will intervene if they see an injustice taking place in front of them. The people I know will unconditionally love someone regardless of race, religion, orientation, political status, or social status. The people I know will wave a pedestrian across the road even if they have a green light in front of them. The people I know will bleed out and die before giving in to something they do not believe in. The people I know never forget the deceased and honor them by being the best future person they can possibly be. The people I know cry when something bad or good happens to someone else. The people I know would rather host a fundraiser and give to charity during a crisis than do something for themselves. The people I know live life forward and only look back in reflection. The people I know dream regardless of the odds that are against them because they understand that dreams and aspirations are not reserved just for the rich and elite. The people I know would stare down a million suns just so their kids could have one last glimpse of the moon and stars. The people I know will lower their head in respect but keep their eyes open if a stranger prays, even if they are not religious. The people I know, their heartbeat is what makes the Earth spin on its axis and their blood is what feeds the lands and oceans. The people I know are a waning candle in the darkest of rooms. The people I know, whether they live in a single wide, double wide, the projects, a suburb, or a gated community, will come together to find a way because, for now, this planet is a shared community and it’s all we have.

And these people you know, where do you find them, may I ask?

They are out there! Believe me, they are! When they want to be seen, you will know. Trust me on that statement!

Well, the people I know are far different than the ones you have described, and some would say that mine outnumber yours, there, friend.

We all see the world how we want to. Don’t we? What we perceive the world to be, that is what will manifest before our eyes. Just like you, dear friend. As soon as I quit listening to you and pull the curtain, you no longer exist. You become a figment yet again and not an actual voice. Right? So who has the power in this relationship? Hmm?

Oh, chase me off if you want to! Cut the cord to my mike before I drop the pipe bomb and run away like a coward! Even in the midst of a loss, all you want to do is huddle the team together, give them a pep talk, and yell, ‘one, two, three, team’. History is going to repeat like a worn out, wobbly vinyl record. The same directional spin. The same tune. The same scratchy ending. You’ll see, friend. Just like the time when…

Well, I think I’ve heard enough of you for today. He is right though! I’ve got bigger and better things to worry about at the moment. Let me see. Hmm. First thing on the list. Where can I go today and hopefully find some toilet paper since the people I know are buying it up like gold? Let me think…

( cue Frank Sinatra – Luck Be A Lady )