Smile, Breathe, and Go Slowly
After a tumultuous year, it’s an opportune time for conscious reflection…
As we welcome the new year, one could not help but wonder if there were a more immediate time for a New Year’s resolution, or rather a collective human resolution/revolution? The past year not only gave us a swift reminder of the continuing injustices and the experience of suffering worldwide, but it also elucidated a clearer reality of our problems, which only became more visible in a year plagued by division, violence, and a threatening virus.
As we leave behind 2020, let it not be a blink in our memories. If anything, we must relive it consciously as we go forward. COVID-19 is here to stay and so are our apparent problems that we can no longer ignore, even if we wanted to.
As all around the world people were losing their breath through sickness or in death, 2020 became a year that had come to re-define the ‘breath’, reminding us of our very precious life-force.
Amidst the troubles we experienced this year, a few blessings were also brought to the fore, coming in the form of worldwide solidarity against injustice and the extension of goodwill through a mutual ordeal that was COVID-19. Out of this unfortunate experience we were afforded a gift, the gift that came in the form of awareness. Now, more than ever, we are aware of the direness of the situation. We must take this valuable lesson on board and work together to re-establish our priorities.
Perhaps we can start by learning to prioritize the breath, our own breaths, our loved ones, and those around us. Maybe in turn we can extend that to the other living beings, the environment, and our home planet. Now, is the time to work together and to work on ourselves. Going forward, we must collectively define the necessary action we take henceforth. Our future livelihood is determined by the steps we take now. So, as we wait for our leaders to learn from the devastating consequences of the global pandemic, let us reflect while we reel and recover from such chaos.
Let’s start with a deep breath, to help take us back to the present moment…
Now that we are in the present moment, let us breathe in together to appreciate the very gift we have often taken for granted, breathing.
Air/Breath gives rise to consciousness (life) and furthermore, conscious thought — our greatest tool. Now that we’re conscious, breathing, and aware. Let us revisit and comprehend our current situation. Given we are on the topic of breath and suffering, it may be fitting to draw on the four noble truths as a guide on how to navigate and refresh the cycle of this universal suffering.
Presence of Suffering
“I Can’t Breathe” — echoed by many countless victims of injustice and COVID-19.
As we tuned into the daily occurrences around the world, we saw disastrous death tolls rising, infrastructures crippling, worldwide panic ensuing and resulting tensions come to a head. The world was unprepared for such a year.
As a collective, we had very little control of the situation. Perhaps we were simply not ready due in part to ignoring the existing circumstances. Yet, the global pandemic brought forward and immediate the existing tension, anger, despair, fear, and hopelessness that we already felt, only now magnified. As a result, a greater issue was unmasked.
The simple fact is that all around the world, we were all suffering. This is not a new phenomenon, there is a multitude of persistent problems we have not been able to rectify or have even begun addressing with greater urgency.
Thanks to the circumstances, it is now more evident that there is a universal truth to our suffering or at least the degree of it. Regardless of creed, belief in ideology — the human race shares a commonality as a species. We are all in this together, needlessly in a losing battle with a virus.
Contrary to many beliefs, the virus is not our true enemy, though by its function it is our adversary. Yet, the virus does not discriminate and it has no personal vendetta, it simply exists to survive by any means necessary, much like us, matching our own destructive paths. Except we are very much divided, in spite of our supposed sophistication.
In a year where masks became a necessary appendage, the very thought of our breaths became more conscionable. Whether rich or poor or from any part of the world, we all relied on the same tools and essential services. We too found a deserving affinity and appreciation for the noble healthcare workers who continue to protect us on the frontlines. As with any time of crisis, we were afforded some perspective on the most fundamentals in life. The simple act of breathing, living, smiling, enjoying, and appreciating, meant a lot to us at a time when there was no hope in sight.
In a world so divided, it was most welcoming to find more commonality and appreciation.
Given that there is perhaps no one in the world right now, that has not heard of COVID-19 is a fact that helps demonstrate the interconnectedness of our world. It can affect any one of us which consequently has given us new-found regard for our predicament. It seems that now, we are all thinking about the same thing. The thought of our breaths was on our minds, along with death.
Many wanted to escape from this reality when it became all too much to bear. Still, whenever we tuned into other occurrences around the world, something else continued to remind us. When we were battling with our own personal fears of losing our breath or hearing countless accounts of victims succumbing to the virus, we began to imagine what it must have felt like to not know when we were taking our last breath. It was almost impossible not to…
In the midst of a global pandemic, another phenomenon had arisen that had come to symbolise the preciousness of the breath. It came in the desperate utterances of the words spoken by the most famous unrelated victim of COVID- 19, in 2020, George Floyd;
‘I Can’t Breathe…’
It’s been said over and over. Many alike by the George Floyds of the world who were starved of the liberties and ultimately their breaths. It was no different from when it was uttered by Eric Garner years before. No different to the same suffocation experienced (in different forms but very same manners) seen in the lynching of the Emmett Tills. But the starving of the breath does not need to be literal. The starving of breath is akin to the starving of dignity, respect, love, compassion, understanding, attention. All of which leads to death, as we saw in other cases of racial injustice last year, Breonna Taylor or Ahmaud Arbery, to name only a few, past and present.
As we have seen in the U.S, a much deeper issue is at hand. Racism is well alive and extremely abundant. Wherever it exists, injustice seems to follow it closely. That is no coincidence, it is very much a universal truth. It has always been there and not without indignation. But out of further tragic circumstances, a movement grew. It even has a voice now that can be heard. It’s proclamation bells have finally registered. The world can no longer ignore.
So what had changed, for the circumstances to allow that we could voice our sorrows, our anger, our hopelessness? Have the people simply had enough? Have they all grown more conscious of the thought of their last breath as they witnessed the world in lockdown, masked up, counting the death tolls?
Did it have much to do with the horror of seeing countless millions of survivors of COVID 19 revealing the difficulties they faced with the deadly virus? Or did it become much more, when we learned that even those that died were not even given a chance to say goodbye to their loved ones as they succumbed in their hospital beds? Or the fact that the grief-stricken could not even attend the funerals of their loved ones?
Was the crumbling of the system, finally revealed to us all? Or at least the level of it? Or have our delusions of normal finally revealed a crack in the mirror? A crack in the system, beyond irreparable repair? These problems are not limited to the U.S. However, when the world's wealthiest and most powerful country faces its most turbulent time in history, it can only mean that beneath the surface of its riches, reveals a collapse much comparative to other parts of the world where its problems can no longer be hidden in plain sight.
This was already our reality, but with the help of extreme circumstances like COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement, we have been given another chance to shine a light on our troubled world - yet these issues only scratch at the surface of our underlying problems…
Causes of Suffering
“The cessation of breathing in your life is but the belated announcement of an earlier death of the spirit” — Martin Luther King Jr.
Everyday life has masked our true reality, especially that of social and economic inequality, which was reflected in the values governments all around the world had placed on the welfare of their populations. In times of crises such as now, we know it all gets magnified, and the marginalized get left further behind - unable to afford the care they need. Then there are the invisible, just perishing away without notice. We cannot afford to lose sight of the pressing problems that also get pushed away due to the global pandemic. We cannot afford to ignore them either. They are one of the same, all interrelated.
As we look globally beyond the human world, we see again our collective disregard for our own destruction of our planet and our livelihood. Consider that one-third of air comes from forests, a further two-thirds coming from oceans. Then remember our pollution of the atmosphere with toxic and industrial waste, our incessant need for deforestation, and the true cost of our carbon emissions on our planet.
Already in cities with uninhabitable levels of pollution, masks are a norm. We already take the breath for granted and we will all be suffocating (literally and even spiritually)at some point or another when the problems we are responsible for catch up to us. Whether it be global warming, pollution, rising sea levels, poverty, human rights injustices… No one is invulnerable to its effects and we will not escape the perpetual cataclysm of our own doing.
In a sense, we have been given a chance to fully comprehend the urgency, now that even the developed world cannot escape or ignore this deadly virus. Privileged or poor alike will eventually suffer the same consequences. It is only a matter of time.
Perhaps it should not have been a virus that leads to this shift in mindset, after all, it should have been on our own accord to address existing problems. But we have a habit of letting things manifest, as we do with our continued desire to acquire and consume, as Bertrand Russell cautioned in his Nobel Speech on desire, echoing the Buddhist tenets on the destructive risk of desire for power and consumption. As we continue to witness a valuing of material goods over personal values, we only grow indifferent to everything else.
Such sentiments allow for continuing conflicts with our moral compatibility, which only leads to violence, wars, oppression, inequality, death - all of which stems from our dangerous desires to put our wants over other’s needs. Until we can see eye to eye with one another, we will continue to be a species at war with itself, divided regardless of a virus.
As we continue to battle against a virus, we must recognise the greater fight in the long term will be the one we have with ourselves. We as humans are the ones who must hold ourselves accountable.
We cannot rectify history’s grievances until we address the circumstances that lead to them. We must address the root of our issues. This means assessing our values and focusing on foundations that are paramount to the livelihood of the people. We cannot afford to be indifferent to the destruction of our planet, we simply cannot afford to disconnect ourselves from the confronting truths of the divisive nature of hateful ideologies. The truth is we face a war on two fronts, magnified by the most divisive forces in human history; race and class. Another symptom of societal frailty and indifference.
We are separated by conflicting views but ultimately many of our problems are accounted for by the lack of understanding of the fragility of human life and appreciating its sacredness.
Evidently, time and time again, we see the act of a law enforcement officer (of all people) kneeling down on a person's back and neck. Perhaps air doesn’t seem as precious in such moments. But let us take a step back from this…
Consider that we can go for three weeks without food, three days without water but only three minutes without air. Were it not more apparent now, the immediacy of our need for this precious life force. Just take in the fact that Derek Chauvin placed his knee on George Floyd’s neck and deprived him of air for almost three times the length of what he needed to survive.
We can argue the values that led to this act. This is a necessary discussion that will require attention beyond the year, beyond the movement. But put frankly, this was a depraved act — no matter what side we view this from. The pattern of these actions is almost ingrained, and the consequences are always the same, leading to another death of a vulnerable individual. If that were not enough to determine our moral positions, then remember that there was an equal amount of outrage for when Colin Kaepernick took a knee in defiance, compared to the beyond reprehensible act Derek Chauvin was guilty of. I could not think of a more lack of regard for the breath, or of life.
While the current pandemic is an extremely serious matter. We have to acknowledge that there exists an urgency in exacting the rights of those who have been wronged beyond COVID-19. Looking around the world, there is no shortage of injustices, and behind those actions; wrongdoers. We will have to shine a light on this…
Having taken in all the circumstances, there’s no wonder, the sense of deflation that the people and protestors must feel when the truth of injustice and suffering seems like an inconvenience to some. It’s a neverending cycle. Along with other injustices, one can only imagine that if such a visible problem was being taken lightly, then how do we place faith in the future that shifts ahead without attention to present suffering, something that should be an immediate priority. What happens to those who suffer silently in the background, not even given a mention, their plight not even known? Who speaks for them, who fights for them? How do we go forward without acknowledging the wrongs? Who do we blame when it all catches up to us? Ourselves?
Cessation of Suffering
“The air shares its spirit with all the life it supports” — Chief Seattle
We are currently on the precipice and perhaps the death count of COVID-19 will call upon a greater urgency to address our problems. Now is the perfect time to remind ourselves that in order to refresh the cycle, we may need to reverse the cycle. We know that it need not be this way, we have many pathways. It all starts with recognising the old model was not working. And as we hope to move on from a devastating year, let us not hope to return to what we considered normal, which was really a reality filled with delusion. If we wanted to go back to normal, that would mean normalising our behaviours and patterns that existed in a world filled with injustices and destruction.
If we want change, we must accept that we were all guilty of helping normalise the situation. Not to give the wrongdoers or our neglectful leaders a pardon for their actions but we must work harder to encourage and shape a world we want to be truly a part of.
We must be proactive and we must prioritise values, that benefit all. We must tether ourselves through a shared understanding of the interconnectedness of our world.
Everything from connecting our breath to our consciousness of ourselves and others is the key to understanding that our livelihoods are all connected. We are in this together. Our futures are all dependant on recognising this truth.
As none wiser words have existed to aptly paint the big picture of this predicament;
“Because equal rights, fair play, justice, are all like air; we have it or none of us has it. That is the truth of it”- Maya Angelou
So, as we look to the future, let us envision a world where all its inhabitants can breathe; humans, animals, and even our biggest breath givers; trees, and oceans.
If there were ever a time in history where the breath has been on our minds then maybe the consolation of our situation is how we can take on board the greatest lesson we have been afforded at such times, the reset of our mindsets. Perhaps we can finally break the cycle before it repeats again.
The End of Suffering
“Smile, Breathe and Go Slowly” — Thich Nhat Hanh
It all seems smooth sailing in an ideological sense when we think that simply adopting a new mindset will be the change we need. Though it really is as simple as that. If we can start again, on the same page, what's to say we cannot redeem ourselves. Though we need to be united, in our hopes and our goals.
As we take the time out to consider our next course of actions, we are already afforded the benefits of reflection, by slowing things down to fully comprehend our disposition. It truly affords us a form of awakening. For we cannot move forward if we have no plan, let alone be in denial of our being.
With the reminder of our breaths, we are already being mindful of ourselves and others, giving everything we come across, the right effort and attention. It reminds us of the need to consider things beyond ourselves, bringing about a much-needed understanding. The simple act of wearing a mask can save a life. Shutting down our cities can stop the spread. Spending more of our resources on healthcare guarantees a greater livelihood for the people. Taking the time to voice concern and anger at injustices means everyone can be heard, even visible. It all speaks volumes about how conscious we can be.
Above all, it propels us to act and be accountable and to hold those accountable. Now we can truly focus our attention on adjusting corrupt systems. Repairing the damage to our society. We can no longer justify holding off on these priorities. If nothing changes in the present, then we will have no control over the future. If our current predicament is not enough for motivation, it may just be hopeless after all. Perhaps that despair signals this universal sigh. Just maybe, out of it, we can begin to confront these feelings.
What we can do as individuals is to pay attention to our feelings. As we do when we are embroiled in turbulent times. Perhaps we can draw on this feeling. During times of adversity, our bodies compel us to take deep breaths. Whether we need it for the much-needed exhalation or to simply let go of ill feelings, letting go of fear, relinquishing our hate and prejudices, breathing a sigh of relief for the gratitude we feel for being alive, or simply breathing in to take in the joys around us. It's a necessary act. Almost involuntary. But the miracle is we can voluntarily take a breath. We can control it and such wonders we can do with it.
With each breath, we can open ourselves to the whole universe, sharing our breath across the ages. With each breath, we can become conscious, figuratively, and literally - of the present moment and of course the current predicament we desperately need to address.
Though while we may need to move quickly and urgently rather than going slow. We must thoughtfully take on board everything. We cannot afford to rush and leave anyone behind or neglect our priorities. We need to consciously slow down things, as we continue to catch up on fixing our inherent problems. In order to exact justice or amend inequalities, we must give it the necessary time and attention. This process can all begin simply with attention to the present moment.
So, as we breathe in, absorb all that is and ever was to bring attention to what is now and what can be. It is in these moments of attention that we will notice, that we can give attention to, that we can care, that we can change.
Breathing in and out, let good intention, thought, and awareness - shine through. Remember our breath and appreciate that for others. This is something we can do together, because it is imperative to our lives and livelihoods, individually and collectively.
As we ‘Smile, Breathe and Go Slowly’, carefully and thoughtfully, in whatever order, we know that no harm can be done when we take a moment to appreciate such things.
Let these simple reminders help us to remember the preciousness of our breath.
It’s sacred.
It’s life.
It matters…
‘Smile, Breathe, and Go Slowly’ is an excerpt of a chapter from my upcoming book ‘Conducere’.
The follow-up chapter, ‘Why We Can’t Wait’, which is a continuation of the urgent sentiments explored and expressed by Martin Luther King, will function as my next article published on Medium.
