Not Lost, Not Sure Where We Are Headed

Not Lost, Not Sure We Are Headed

John Paul Derryberry

Oh boy, if you are a doom and gloom person, the current climate must be in your wheelhouse. It would not be a stretch to say we are in one of the odder and less hopeful times in history. After a two-year pandemic filled with bad messaging, political unrest, and violence, we landed in a vast land of economic uncertainty, a war in Europe, a society attacking teachers, and gun violence. Yet, I would not request anyone to see the hope in what is occurring. Mostly because I rarely ask anyone to change their view of the world. Maybe reshape it, rethink it, but ultimately your worldview will have to be yours.

So why do I remain ever hopeful that we are on a path to a better future? Am I just some optimistic guy? Not really, but I lean heavily into being an optimist. Do I have inside knowledge into knowing there is a light at the end of the tunnel? No, I do not. So why then do I think just maybe we will come out of this better than when we entered. It's the voices rising up from the mess. While not all the voices speaking are healthy, many people speaking are from groups thought of less than 20 to 30 years ago. They no longer are willing to stay silent to get along. It's a beautiful sight when that occurs, and speaking from the experience of seeing it happen on some occasions, it's powerful- because they won't stop.

They might not be successful in getting the change they seek in the next couple of years, but there is a steely resolve to bring about change. I remember numerous moments in my life when I saw someone find something within themselves to not go back. When a young lady of 15 found the courage to tell her abusive mother, I love you, but I won't be returning home after treatment. Her abusive mother responded with every cruel trick in the book to manipulate her daughter back into her control. Every trick bounced off of her, and she commented so this is what it's like on the other side. It no longer has a lasting effect on you. And that's what we are seeing from abused women, the LGBTQ crowd, workers, and social workers. A desire to not allow old tricks to turn back the clock.

It will be messy; it won't be pretty; progress never is. And for the first time, we see social progress and how hard it is to make improvements in real-time. Can you imagine if Twitter existed during the 1950 sit-ins? It's never easy, but the fact that the people who feel oppressed are not backing down signals a power shift in our society. It's downright inspiring but also scary and unnerving. It will have real, not fun, consequences until we reach the other side of the social shift in our culture. But, if we stay the course, we will be better for it. So yes, we may feel like we are wondering if there is no direction right now, but I'm reminded by one of my favorite quotes that not all who wander are lost. So stay the course, and someday we will arrive at a better, more equal society.