Moments Aplenty July 8, 2009

There are some moments in which I dread, moments when I seriously consider following in Jim Carey’s footsteps in asking for a clean slate. These moments are usually those of confusion to such a level that I will almost never be able to untangle myself from the strands that seem to desire my lifeblood. Or at times I know a moment is inevitable and even with this knowledge I dig my heals into the ground in an attempt to stop the inevitable…have you ever tried to stop what is inevitably required to happen? I would advise against it. If you do attempt, be warned that the strands of confusion, heartache and pain grow at an alarming rate and stop for the likes of no one.

I do sometimes wonder if people like Hitler or the masterminds behind the Rwandan genocide were running from a moment, were trying to rip away the strands of time and thought that had begun to suffocate the decency and humanity from their bodies. I suppose that I am giving them too much credit or making too many assumptions, but putting events such as those created by these men in such a small home as the space of a moment gives us an atrocity on which to cling, but it does not give us hope that paths of terror can be rerouted with the appropriate intervention. Intervention should be encapsulated in the definitions of diplomacy or international development or even a global world order such as capitalism or democracy. Maybe intervention is the wrong term to use because of the weight it holds in these key facets of modern society. Perhaps we can continue a little further down the thesaurus line and talk about recognition of a common strand associated with a common history. This commonality does not give those powerful few the prerogative to define a common future, something the world has been experiencing since the apex of the 20th century, but gives us all the chance to recognize a common goal. I believe that the moment when we, as a world and a global community, realize the potential we have to manifest and create positive change will be the moment when everything so many of us will be working for will come to fruition.

I say this because manifesting and creating change is the most natural and most broadly recognized part of our common moments. If every moment was a photograph or a painting or a piece of graffiti lining our downtown’s or the face a person, we would recognize that each moment leaves its own distinct mark on time. Many moments may be similar in size and significance and maybe in appearance; this is where we are able to recognize the connection we have with other people their repertoire of moments. There are many aspects of this world that I wish were different, and I am creating my part in the change that is inevitable, but if I had the ability to change one thing it would be that we were required to wear our moments like a cape, for the world to see. I feel as though we would understand the commonality so much more if we were able to share. Instead we have the moral regulators of weakness who always seem to recognize the weakness in others without displaying the colors and textures they have accumulated over time.

Alas, I digress from the discomfort and confusion I feel toward my own life at the moment to project at the world and then solve the problems I see as the most significant. I am only a cape-wearing fool who believes that the moments that fill us are meant to be shared.

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