“Changes”, 25 Years Later...
“It's time for us as a people to start making some changes. Let's change the way we eat, let's change the way we live. And let's change the way we treat each other. You see, the old way wasn't working so it's on us to do what we gotta do…to survive.” - Tupac Shakur
I remember so clearly when I heard the news of Tupac being killed. I was a teenager. I cried, a lot. I was so sad that he would never again be able to make music and that we lost such a wise and inspirational soul. His lyrics had always resonated with me and I felt the pain he expressed through his music. I understood his views on highly charged topics even though we were worlds apart and would never know each other. As a fellow human being with empathy and respect for all humans my connection to him was real.
I tend to get my most intuitive hits when I am moving my body and while running yesterday, sans headphones, I heard Tupac’s voice from his ‘90’s song Changes play out in my head:
“Let's change the way we eat, let's change the way we live. And let's change the way we treat each other.”
He had it so right way back in the 90s. What’s ironic is the turmoil in our country at this time, almost twenty-five years later. Nothing has really changed in the ways human beings treat each other. There is still absurd corruption, lies, inequity and unfair treatment. The media has worsened with their widespread access on social platforms. Their stories so inauthentic regurgitated by reporters paid to just speak the words they’re shown on the teleprompter. No genuine or authentic perspectives, just fabricated plots to spread fear knowing that this is what germinates more powerlessness in people making them more easily controlled. An age old tactic that is acted out in every crime show.
Illegal and prescription drug use is an epidemic, and violence and guns are considered just a part of everyday life. Many people still don’t take good care of their physical body. We have much more knowledge about what we consume and know that food is a major part of our physical health or lack thereof. Yet, those that know the most, the big machines, continue to mass produce food for the cheapest price then feed it to the people regardless of quality. We know that the human body needs movement to be energetically and physically well. We know that human mentality needs resources for beneficial management of emotions and stress. We’ve been taught the answers are in medicine so people wind up sick then treat their symptoms causing even more trauma to the physical body. We’ve been taught that mental illness and addiction are weird and wrong rather than understand the underlying cause and work with people accordingly.
How are we still living this way? We are still buying into everything we hear? Still allowing the old systems to perpetuate separation and systemic problems? Giving away our power to the so-called powers that be to decide for us the way forward? Our lives have become far more controlled than free.
We can take more self-responsibility and control of our own individual lives. No one is coming to save any of us. It’s on each of us to change. There is no redemption for humans that harm other humans, period. Rather than let the past repeat itself, we can stand for change for the better as a united front. Let’s draw on one another for the most innovative, compassionate approaches to a more free society. A true, real freedom that inspires each of us to live to our fullest.
We have to individually take ownership of our own feelings and come to terms with this reality when doubt (anger/separation) arises so that we can collectively come to harmony with others. We are not going to change by perpetuating and serving to continue the disgraceful, disrespectful ways of treating each other. We must shake our old beliefs and abandon what we think we know. Lies have conditioned our way of being for far too long. We have to undo what we have learned and come to know our own truth.
“Let's change the way we eat, let's change the way we live. And let's change the way we treat each other.”
Each moment we all make choices that confirm or deny our human existence. We choose to nourish ourselves in a way that supports or depletes our energy, to think and talk in ways that honor or dishonor ourselves and others, to pass judgment or spread compassion in our external world. In our beliefs about what we have/don’t have, who we are, and what we should/shouldn’t be, we bring to life our greatest joys and darkest moments.
As human beings we are one race, here at this time, on this planet. We are NOT the center of the universe. Our mortal existence is to experience what it means to be human. I am not religious but I’m pretty sure most religions are not indoctrinating that our purpose as humans is to suffer and hate and kill. This world is meant for all of us, and no one should be left behind or singled out. Humans are meant to experience connection, love and unity. When will we realize we are one race and not meant to be at war with one another but supporters of one another? That we want each other to thrive not suffer.
It would be much simpler to think we as a society will return to “normal”. What we have witnessed and endured both through months of the virus and now mass destruction/harm is not bringing us back to normalcy. It is pushing us well beyond that into transformation. We can trust that these experiences are changing everyone on the inside. Whether it’s for the better is the question to ask yourself. We can all use our voices and our internal power to focus on a NEW, BETTER way forward for all of humanity.
