Where do we go from here?

The sixth month of 2020.

The first few days of the month.

I swear, I can still remember how on this past New Years Eve, everyone was like usual, on social media being so excited for the future.

But this time, there was a fervor, a bliss I had not experienced being sung out in typed words.

Was it because the futuristic phrasing of, the numerology associated with, or the iconic calendar appearance of 2020, that led to a more than usual amount of symbolism to this particular year?

I ask this because, it's something without answers. It's more rhetorical than something I ever expect anyone to be able to provide answers for right now. That can't happen until hindsight becomes a 20/20 vision in the rear view mirror on the highway of life.

Weird metaphor, but the only year I'll be able to use it.

So it leaves me with how things are today. How we as a society are experiencing the now, as a collective social entity, that for a while mostly stayed isolated because of Covid, and then in part unified and rallied together to stir turbulent change in the face of stagnant order.

Where do we go from here?

If you're just tuning into the year 2020, you've either been living in a bubble, or you've discovered some incredible marijuana strain that you need to market for those that need it, like yesterday.

If what I've been going through has been any indication of what others may be feeling, then I feel it's safe to say, that depression, anxiety, anger, fear, and melancholy fever of the mind, have all walked hand in hand with a pandemic that half the people I know refuse to believe in. 

Expand beyond that, and you witness moments of solace, mixed with chaotic moments of upheaval that are both occurring simultaneously in your area.

A meme that's been making the rounds has absolutely nailed it, in saying that it's like multiple timelines of change, merged suddenly, and have decided to be a massive downer on the magnificently and incorrigibly corrupt, clueless, and fearful leaders of this nation, and all the plans they had laid out to keep the world as they see fit.

In a set of words, it has been a shit show. And we are not yet done fighting for toilet paper.

Now, I can go on and on about what is happening now. But you only have to hit up any other social media to find facts, both accurate and alternative. Interviews both enlightening, and staged. People struggling to fight for the betterment of society, and those who want to burn it all down.

Divided in mindset. Unified in division.

Where do we go from here?

We have to carry onward. Forward, not only into the months before us, but beyond. 

Not all of us will make it. 

None will be the same. 

Time is the ultimate thief. Unstoppable. And greedy.

But even with things taken from us, we need to find it within us to fight. 

To stand up. To believe in one another.

To be braver than we ever have before. To look at who WE are, inside, and then decide, for all that you hold dear.

Where do we go from here?

You see, it's not that we are lost. It's that we have never decided to move forward together. 

It's not that we are powerless, it's that we underestimate our power.

We will stumble. We may fall. Some may never rise again.

But we will carry onward.

Because everyone dies, but not everyone truly lives.

Until next time, remember to support artists and local businesses. Be kind to your fellow beings and always take the path less traveled. We all may live in times uncertain, but kindness, understanding, and believing in the good that is in most each and every one of us is what can bring about better days!

- Mario, the Artisan Rogue
Illustrator, Voice Actor, Writer, Animal Rights Activist

www.theartisanrogue.com