Wednesday, November 09, 2016

Lessons from a Construction Crew on a Morbid Morning

It was 6am this morning. The sky was filled with the first light at the crack of dawn. I was standing outside on the upstairs balcony sipping my hot beverage. There was not a soul to be seen. Understandably, my community was reeling from the shock that was handed to us in the wee hours this morning. I assume most people were up, like me, until 1am to witness Reality TV turn to real life.

A construction truck fully loaded with street repair equipment drove up. It pulled up by another truck parked in front of my neighbors and the two drivers, seemingly Latino, started talking in Spanish. Why were these men up so early on a day like this? They had to have been on the road since 5am to get into San Francisco at this hour. A dozen reasons for why they were justified to show up late for work crossed my mind. I bet the boss is not going to show up for a few hours. They had a few more things to be concerned about the latest news than me.


Watching them, it dawned on me we have work to do. There is no time to stop and sulk. Regardless of how far we thought we came, we need to wake up to the fact that there is a lot more healing to do. The gashes are deep. There are no 'them' and 'us'. And, there is no where to escape to. Look around the world; UK, Philippines and Turkey are also showing similar trends. The last I've heard Mars is not ready for colonization yet. There is only us and here.

We have to dig deep to see where we have unresolved conflict within us. The healing needs to start within. There is a stronger need to create community and belonging than ever before. No one can be left out, even at the level of thoughts. Ultimately, the pursuit is of happiness. Screaming for change, America is trying every which way to find it. Even the winners were stunned by numbers last night. This is a spiritual issue. The answers are not going to come from policies and new trade agreements.

Let the healing begin with me.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

If you don't meditate, it's good time to start. For those who meditate, shift the turbo now.

Jay Chodagam said...

Agree with turbo mode!!

Dr Asha Kamnani said...

Congratulations Jay! Nice blog. Everything starts from me. No one should need inspiration to meditate. It is an inner calling