A few weeks ago, I was living and breathing Occupy Oakland, and serving the Occupy movement as a willing, vocal and definitely verbose ambassador. I struggled to make sense of a social movement that I deem vital to the survival of our civilization, and to stand, publicly, for its nebulous beliefs, values and requests of the status quo.
My barking helped me reconnect with my writing habit, and it helped introduce me to many of my neighbors. Some, I could shake hands with. Others, I could only approve as friends on Facebook. It’s wild: how quickly connections happen. It’s fun: how easily people settle for my answers to their questions about a mission that we’re all on, together. Friends at work started calling me “Occupy,” and I had to clear the air with a few of them: “I don’t discuss my politics while on the clock, and I’d prefer that they don’t discuss my politics at work, either.” Neighbors and friends celebrated my efforts downtown, on Facebook and through this blog. A friend of a friend bought me a beer, one night, because he said it was the least he could do, to support Occupy.
What a trip. I was writing about Occupy, because I couldn’t not write about Occupy. How can we talk about anything else? Really, what else is there to talk about? I’m appalled, surprised, not-surprised and even heartbroken, when I click onto American media that still wants to talk about celebrity gossip, political drama, lifestyle tips and movie reviews. That we’re even making movies about anything but the fact that OUR WORLD IS CHANGING AT AN ACCELERATED PACE AND WE MIGHT NOT LIVE TO SEE OUR CHILDREN BECOME ADULTS, IF WE DON’T GET OUR SHIT TOGETHER, STOP PRETENDING LIKE THIS ISN’T REALLY HAPPENING AND WAKE THE FUCK UP AND SNAP INTO ACTION seems totally crazy to me.
Oh, right, we are getting our shit together, and some of us are keeping it real, and many of us are wide awake and in action. That’s what’s happening, right now.
And, with 2012 gleefully awaiting us around the corner, and the pulse of our planet, the pace of our creations and the potency of our manifestations accelerating exponentially, I wonder what’s next.
In the spirit of the great NostraDanus (not a typo), I will note my short predictions for the future:
What’s next, for this planet? I read in the news that they’ve found another one, for us to maybe live on.
What’s next, for nosotros? Community, the end of the “Me” vs. “They” era and the realization of the “We” and “One” consciousness in our civilization.
And what’s next, for me? The world’s ending next December, so I might as well go big, do some impossible shit, in 2012.
And a note to my readers: I’ve not been blogging about Occupy, the past few weeks, mostly because I’ve been experiencing it online, and not in person. I work each evening that Occupy Oakland meets to hold General Assemblies. I’m not willing, nor can I afford to get arrested for participating in the guerilla camping and “hey you, kids, get off my lawn / screw you, fogie, it’s our lawn” camp defense actions that have been the theme of Occupy Oakland and Occupy SF’s past few weeks. But I continue to spread REAL news and clips, via Facebook, and in conversations. I’ve visited Occupy SF twice in recent weeks. I’m supporting evolutionaries and revolution, in my own way. I’m still living our evolution, I’m still in action and I’m still one of the many voices that are helping to shift the consciousness of our collective of human beings in a direction that I deem positive and healthy.
Occupy Everything. Power to the People. Long live the Oakland Commune.
