The life, death, life, cycle of all things.
This is an experience we are having all of the time. We are shedding skin consistently and literally. We eat things that must die for us to live.
And a way of being must die in order to allow us to grow.
Whatever lives with in us, that separates us from feeling humanity, is needing to die off. Being shut down for three months showed this to us. We saw how important opening our hearts and our eyes really was. We began coming together.
I don't know about you, but personally, I was starting to smile big at my neighbors when I saw them outside and was so happy to have another human around outside of my quarantined life. Working from home has advantages. It has disadvantages as well. I miss gathering to dance with people. I know that a night of dance would bring so much joy to our world.
But our celebration of release was not a dance. It was a global protest with the mantra, "I can't breathe".
Whatever we as a society has been doing to dehumanize people needs to die. We need to let it go. It is sacred to be in community in joy and safety. We should be building that.
As artists, we move through the world as observers. Mirrors of our experiences. We record humanity in all of its raw forms and give it back to itself. There is beauty in decay. There is beauty in watching what was, be laid to rest. There is freedom in embracing humanity, and all that is good and authentic. Part of being human, is to always be dying and shedding that death.
New life comes of it. It is nourished by it. It's okay to let go of what was. Because what is, can be a healthier version of what we knew. If we choose.
When we look back at how we showed up and what was accomplished in 2020, that will include each individual and their choices in growth. We will be re-meeting ourselves and each other. I am curious as to how much we will have learned...and even more so, what we have applied.
Image: "Patina and the Blues"