June Community Gathering - “Creative Process" #2: Tori Roze

Welcome back to “Creative Process" - a month-long journaling series from members of the Lady Brain Collective. Today we will lift up the writing of Tori Roze, the member who inspired this entire group project with the below work:

image description:
colorful writing pens overlaid on photo of Tori Roze, who is singing into a microphone.
original photo credit: Darci Fontenot

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“From Mourning to Morning: Pandemic Sentiments” by Tori Roze

If you’re feeling out of whack lately, congratulations – you’re human and you’re absolutely not alone. Society at large is currently in a forced state of mourning: in mourning for the dreams we were each actively pursuing; in mourning for the ability to be able to plan for what we each want (and are not forced) to do next; in mourning for those suffering and dying at home and in hospitals without a single friend or family member by their side; in mourning for the black and brown lives that have been endlessly and unequivocally under fire since the dawn of colonial civilization; in mourning for in-person education being brought to a grinding halt; in mourning for job and economic loss; in mourning for the way basic things have functioned for SO long that we didn’t even notice we would miss them - things like going to work, missing THAT, for chrissakes!; in mourning for the small things we each enjoyed like being able to grab a coffee somewhere else other than your home or simply being able to stand near someone without the worry of your personal-space bubble in order to protect your health.

During the three month-long worldwide forced quarantine, the “world” as we know it has already changed. WE are different. WE are finally seeing where things have been falling short for decades, if not longer: governments are crumbling, healthcare systems are broken, racism has reached its absolute boiling point (...again), and with the actual control of resources - we, as a people, don’t have access to necessary supplies to even wipe our own butts, in a serious time of Global Pandemic crises.

We can’t eat, drink, smoke, exercise, share, protest, donate, meditate, cook, clean, bake, give, or create nearly ENOUGH to fill the huge void we are all aimlessly pushing through. Floundering is a thing (just keep swimming) and it’s being felt everywhere. FEEL IT! You’re human. You have feelings. Go through the full range of this emotion! There is NO blueprint or precedent for what we are experiencing in this historical moment: this IS the dawning!

At this massive tipping point of the collective consciousness, it is up to each of us as individuals to decide where it is we will fit into the future = this exact moment. We are at a moral crossroads having to prioritize between human life, resources, and money. We have our work cut out for us.

Only this time WE are banding together. We are inciting change now, here, today. WE are showing up and providing for each other. WE are coming up with grassroots solutions. WE are stepping in and fixing every little broken part of the systems that be AND the very morale of a people who exist without the proper guidance of a designated leader. We are CHANGING the world to the image WE, the people - the ones who are helping each other every day by showing up and standing together and protesting and feeding each other and making masks and donating and rallying together  and sharing the load - WISH to SEE. And the Earth is HEALING in our moment of stillness - after years of use and abuse - because we’ve all been trying so desperately to “keep up with the Joneses” at a sprinter’s pace.

“It’s been a LONG, long time coming. But I know, but I know a CHANGE is gonna come. Oh yes, it is.” -Otis Redding

It is time to get DEEP with ourselves, the answers are inside of you/me/us. WE are inventing this as we go, so trust the process and yourself: because education is important, because community is important, because
jobs are important, because love is important, because animals are important, because the Earth is important, because the Ocean is important, because PEOPLE are important. Does any of modern civil society even matter if it doesn’t have people to make it function properly? No, it doesn’t. Today is proof.

Let’s embrace the change happening today because it’s our collective “baby” that we shall nurture together. But make sure to sit shiva long enough to have truly gotten over what the world as we once knew it was. Change is scary, but it’s the only thing we are each guaranteed in this life besides death. Be not afraid. Help each other. Listen to one another. Amplify the voices of those that need to be heard around the world. Show up. Call things out. Allow love, hope, and integrity to lead your actions. Just remember: mutual understanding will save the day, it always does.