An unfortunate side effect of our modern existence is the pure isolation we feel from one another- from our neighbors, from our community, from our loved ones- even from our own selves. As I watch the Occupations happening around the country- and the world- I’m reminded of the disconnect we often feel with those around us.

A woman takes a smoke break on the streets of Eugene, O.R.

How did this isolation occur?  When did we move away from the core aspects of community and engaged citizenry to the individualistic motivations of a person or a company striving to improve the bottom line- at the cost of anyone who might stand in the way?

Did we achieve this isolation by accident or was it a structured design to keep us all distracted and isolated from one another in an attempt to push through a more powerful agenda by our governments? Have we allowed ourselves to be removed from the lives of others because we fear what collective action might create or because we feel the need to protect ourselves from all the dangerous elements that live beyond our homes and our neighborhoods?

All over the place, from the popular culture to the propaganda system, there is constant pressure to make people feel that they are helpless, that the only role they can have is to ratify decisions and to consume.       ~ Noam Chomsky

The Revolutions of our past were begun in pubs and churches- the places where people gathered and communed. The places where people furthered their ideas and their goals for a brighter and more enlightened society. The community gathering locations of our pasts- which, by design, are difficult to find in modern times- are the places where people connected and united in a common goal of searching for freedom and independence.

Freedom from tyranny. Freedom from oppression. Freedom to live as one saw fit, to build, to grow and to create.

Our forefathers had the sight and vision to recognize that some things- some basic human rights- are worth fighting for. But they found the connection and the common ground to move forward because they chose not to isolate themselves from their fellow neighbor or community.

I look at the modern society we live within and my heart breaks a little. I’ve spent so many years traveling about, seeking out community gathering spots around the world, that I’ve had the opportunity to see community in action on many levels. My heart breaks because there are truly very few community gathering locations- also known as “Third Places”- that allow people to speak freely and further ideas to better their communities and their futures.

Paris is filled with Third Places (as is most of Europe). Could contribute to their active engagement with revolution and the actions of their governments.

If we had been paying attention to one another and truly listening to the pain and struggle our neighbors were experiencing- with love and compassion instead of fear and judgement- might our country be in a different place at this moment?

If we had paid attention to our government and came together to stand against the blatant removal of our democratic rights, might we not be staring down the double barrel of a defunct government and economy- both on the brink of collapse?

If we had been paying attention over the past decade or so, might we have noticed the consolidation of our media, the selling of our political elections to the highest corporate bidder and the outsourcing of all our manufacturing jobs?

If we had been listening to the cries of the minority, might we have taken the actions necessary to preserve such an amazing country for our children and their children?

Yet, we retreat into our homes at night, watch the distractions delivered to us on the television and hope that someone, somewhere, is actually doing something to fix these problems. We judge the people taking to the streets in protest or we simply ignore the reality that we are part of the 99%, that we are effected by the actions of the Wall Street and government elite and that we can take action against it.

I say we, because I am just as guilty as the next person. While I’m pretty active in following the news, both alternative and corporate, and I pay close attention to the happenings in our world and the source of the angst I see around me, I am just as guilty as the next. I have yet to occupy anything. I retreat into a comfortable, quiet home in the evening and I spend my days working to make a living in this economy. I am part of the 99%, yet I’m not standing up for what I see is right, nor am I participating in a physical community to build something to help counter-balance the isolation I’m writing about.

Maybe this is a self-indictment, maybe this is my call to action, maybe this is the time in my life where I use this platform I’ve built to begin to truly look at the issues I spend so much time studying. If I’m to truly help rectify the ills I see everywhere I turn, should I not use this platform to do so.

This blog has been quiet the past few months as I wrestle with these realities and my role in the world. In shifting gears to a more settled and rooted existence, I’m faced with the reality of taking the past few years of nomadic minimalism and making them fit within my re-entering of the professional media world. Its a delicate balance of maintaining identity and embracing the antithesis of what I mentioned above- yet still play the professional game on a level that I see relevant to justify the effort.

And in doing so, I will be looking to engage in community. I will be looking to actively participate in the face of what is to come for our society.

We are faced with two choices at the precipice we stand before. We can either retreat and amplify our isolation- living in fear of what is to come as our society continues its slow (or rapid) decay.

Or we can choose to participate.

We can ride the waves of turmoil and unrest as our society redefines itself and aligns it’s priorities closer to the hearts of it’s people and not the Corporation, holding tightly to the collective community and building a better reality with the help of the people we hold dear- and the strangers we have yet to meet.

Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories.

~ Thomas Jefferson

How often in our modern society do we embrace the opportunities of change?

A street performer in Riva Del Garda, Italy makes his way towards his "office".

How often do we stand at the edge of a fire, embrace the heat and then leap through the flames to find the results of that change we are so desperately seeking? For some of us, this leap of complete faith in the potential outcome is a welcome yet uncomfortable occurrence. We recognize that the intensity of the discomfort now is a direct result of the potential of what lies on the other side.

Yet, this is not always the case. Most people fear change with an intensity that is manifested in the current state of our society. We’ve become so complacent and expectant of the amenities and social institutions that we are all engrained within, that the very thought of any upheaval to the expected routine brings about a desperate fear that has no remedy- besides maintaining the status quo.

We see this in our antiquated educational systems, designed for an era long before technology became mobile and knowledge instantly accessible. We see the fear of change in our political institutions to such a perverse degree that we’ll actually vote for the very person who would wish us dead or render us in utter poverty rather than elect a person who might bring about actual, tangible change- not merely use it as a slogan of propaganda. We see it in the demise of our very economic structures and our inability to force change to occur at all levels of the systems we’ve become enslaved to.

And we see it on the faces of the people we pass on the street everyday. This quiet desperation of the souls who need to change the patterns of their life, but do not have the knowledge or the will to do so. The status quo is much easier to maintain.

And we see the fear of change in our own eyes.

Even if we are an agent of change, we still feel the sharp sting of the unknown. We are blessed with the ability to recognize the source of our fear, and if we’re truly lucky, we’re able to act upon it.

If we lose the ability to change, as a collective whole and as enlightened individuals, we will never evolve into the people we are meant to become.

Our society will never fully embrace all of its potential. In our misery at maintaining the lives we’ve created and the societies we’ve built, we will act out upon one another with anger, resentment and fear. We will continue the paths of destruction that bring us a perverse sense of comfort.

We will continue to destroy the things we love most and the people we cherish through our inability and unwillingness to do the difficult work of changing the paths we are walking down.

Books for sale on the streets of Paris.

If we fail to enact change, we will continue to justify the deaths of others as benefiting the greater good. We will continue to look away as parents abuse their children, as people starve in the streets and children grow into adulthood having never seen what love actually looks like.

We will close our eyes as the world which was handed to us shrivels and dies a tragic death.

For to truly evolve, we must function within the cycle of perpetual change- individually and as a collective. We must have the ability to question our premises, understand the sources of our prejudices and judgements and look beyond the truths we thought were absolute and see what lies beneath.

We must have the strength and the wisdom to dissect the institutions we live within and the relationships we’ve cultivated and truly decide their value and whether or not they play any role in nourishing the person we’ve become.

If we are to evolve and embrace all the potential that lies before us, we must open our eyes to our reality and change it. Now. We must embrace change with all the respect and joy it deserves and step towards the vision of what lies beyond that radical change.

When was the last time you were able to step back from your daily madness and look at the lives that you touch along the way?

A couple strolls through Paris on a summer afternoon. image by cstreet

Have you been blessed with the knowledge and the wisdom to recognize your role in this world and create the opportunity for your beauty and your energy to touch others as you pass gently through their world?

Do you wake up each morning, slightly curious about who will cross your path and what energy or experience you may share with that person? Do you contemplate the possible ripple effects of your random interaction with a stranger- or your loving advice to a dear friend?

Can you look back at your work, your passion and your presence in this world and see- with clarity and definition- the positive influence you’ve had on the people around you? Or on the souls you’ve never met?

I’m asking such questions because I am blessed enough to be able to answer all those questions with positive answers. I’m fortunate enough to have built a platform to share my experiences with a vast world of people I may never meet, yet can touch gently as I pass through their radar and as they float through my art. I’ve had the wisdom to recognize that my talents and intuition play a larger role than just effecting my life. The work I produce, the art I create, the lives I hold closely to my own- they all have been effected by my presence. Some in tiny little minute ways and some in massive life-altering manners.

Not blowing sunshine up my own ass here- I’m just verbally reflecting on the past two days of my life. My nomad world has been a whirlwind the past couple weeks. So much so that I’m not even sure what day it is, what month I’m in and this morning I woke up thinking I was in a different time zone. Hell, it felt like a different dimension. In this time frame, some beautiful opportunities and people have entered my world- and I’m contemplating my current nomadic path and if I should possibly merge it with a more sedentary life that gives me more strength and stability to leap from.

One of my lovely travel companions in Europe.

During this reflection period and before it, I was questioning my role as a “blogger”. I really don’t see my work in that genre- even though I publish a blog. I see where this has evolved into so much more- but I was beginning to question the why of my online writing and if it even had the impact that I envision. I don’t write list articles to garner a larger audience, I don’t structure articles to boost traffic, build my email list or even include keywords or metatags in my posts. Hell, I can barely get a damn newsletter out once a month.

And over the past month or so, every time I log onto Twitter and scan the conversations across my lists- I feel redundant. I feel as though I am seeing the same shit over and over again. And I felt like I was writing the same shit over and over again.

So, I took a step back. I re-evaluated and I went silent for a bit. I ate my way around some major cities in Europe, I documented a beautiful family vacation in France and Italy, I worked on a large multimedia project and I fell in love. I lived, and am living, and it is fantastic.

Yesterday I finally had time to spend with my online world. I published the photos I took in Italy and France, I sent out my private newsletter with a story about my little 6 year old travel companion in Europe and I sent out my monthly newsletter to my lovely readers from this blog.

And the response was overwhelming. It was humbling. And I was and am moved. People I’ve never met wrote me personal emails telling me that my writing brought them to tears. Readers told me how moved they were by my stories. One reader emailed me for advice about a personal topic of a deep nature that I had written about last month. Another reader, Debbra, sent me this little poem:

Risk more than others think is safe.

Care more than others think is wise.

Dream more than others think is practical.

Expect more than others think is possible.

And my loved ones sent me letters and told me how touched they were. My mother even sent me a lovely email and she had actually looked at my writing as a reader- not a mother- and she was moved as well.

And just now, I opened an email from one of my oldest and dearest friends and she told me our recent time together had rubbed off on her and she some major life decisions that opened up a world of joy for her that she needed to explore. And she was happy for it.

I feel as though I have too much joy in my heart in this moment- and this joy is present from the people in my life who connect with my energy, my love and my art. And my life would be a total void without them.

So, I guess I’m posing the questions here of how our work influences those around us- both total strangers and the people we’ve known all our lives. How does our wisdom and energy effect our lovers, our children, our co-workers and total strangers? How far is the reach of your work and can you touch lives from a distance- with the same gentility and passion as you would someone standing in front of you?

Is your work touching this world gently as you pass through or are you merely walking through this world without sharing your soul as you travel by? If the latter is your answer, I implore you to step back from your life, evaluate all that you embody and begin to emanate the beauty you wish to behold in this world. Be the beauty you wish would find you- and I’m sure you’ll realize the power you have to touch this world during your time here.

And if you have a platform to influence others- if your work and your passion are already living in this world and touching people as you pass by- I commend you. And I celebrate the wisdom you cultivated and protected from the crushing influences that society can place upon us. You stand before the flames and declare to the world that no matter what, you WILL touch people gently as you pass through.

And you sacrifice and fight for the privileged and the ability to continue touching humanity as you walk among us. You, dear warrior, are the reason I have hope in this world. So, I thank you.

ps- the comments are off, but the conversation is on- hit the Twitter- @crystaldstreet

pss- All the pics in this essay are from my recent trip to Europe. You can buy prints at my gallery or just click on the photo and start shopping! Go on, you know you want a little more beauty on your walls.