As my sufferings mounted I soon realized that there were two ways in which I could respond to my situation—either to react with bitterness or seek to transform the suffering into a creative force. I decided to follow the latter course.

— Martin Luther King Jr.

The world certainly feels to be on fire these days, doesn’t it? Both literally and figuratively.

All around the world the forces of destruction are dialling up in intensity. Chaos saturates our political, economic, ecological, and emotional landscapes. Being in the world is a constant exercise in overcoming anxiety and despair.

The good news is that the movement for justice is building. People are waking up and taking action—not just in the U.S. but everywhere oppression has placed its boot.

We’ll surely need this constructive energy to carry us through the coming times.

Before Peace Comes Chaos

A year ago I wrote a little bit about anger. I wrote about how anger can become both a catalyst for justice or a consuming, destructive force depending on how you choose to nurture it. Fast forward to present day when we’re watching these two polarities clash on the global stage, and it feels an appropriate time to expand on this topic and how it relates to fear and control (a.k.a. authoritarianism). It’ll be especially pertinent to my local readers in here, in so-called Canada.

Because make no mistake—the sociopolitical chaos in the U.S. is a precursor to what will soon unfold, and as a matter of fact is already beginning to unfold, here.

There will be people who think that what’s happening there won’t happen here because we’re the more “dignified” country. To them I simply say: you might want to open a history book. Or talk to anyone who is Indigenous, queer, disabled, or a non-white immigrant.

As “Canadians” we love to brand ourselves the more genteel counterpart to our southern neighbour. But at the end of the day, all brands are merely costumes for capitalism.

The truth is that this country is built on the same foundation of greed, colonial violence, and white Christian nationalism. We’ve seen the horrors and injustices happening south of the border; the same ones live here, buried beneath the posturing of politeness. We are not exempt from the collective reckoning—the confronting of the centuries of moral rot that European imperialism has incentivized and normalized in our overarching culture.

(As a side note, I recognize that culture is a weird thing. Not all of us choose or agree with the culture we live in, but chances are if you’ve been living in Canada, you’ve been influenced by and/or operating within its settler culture to some degree. Goodness knows I myself have had to clean out many unconscious, unhealthy, and unhelpful patterns in which my mind has been conditioned to think, even as a “disabled” non-white immigrant.)

The other truth, the harder truth for deep adherents of settler culture to accept, is that this foundation is collapsing. For good.

How could it not, when its building blocks are made of nothing but illusions? If power can only be upheld through violence—in all its myriad nefarious forms—then it’s not really real, is it?

Waking Up

The revelations are just beginning. And as more secrets come to light, truths reveal themselves as lies, and the destructive systems that fuelled Western civilization’s narcissistic way of life finally comes crashing down, now is the time to decide what new version of yourself you want to step into.

Because although it may not seem like it yet, a new world—a world of balance, harmony, and lightness—is coming.