ILLUMINATION WRITERS CHALLENGE
A Time for Change
Response to the questions of when we can start trying to solve important issues
Based on a challenge from Timothy Key and B.A. Cumberlidge.
I’ve worked in the plumbing trade for my day job for a long time and over the years have come to truly appreciate the “hidden systems” within our house that never get any attention — — until they fail.
But when plumbing fails, the effect is obvious and urgent. When you no longer can go, there is no higher priority for the individual.
The Pandemic, in an odd and tragic sort of way, is pointing out the “hidden systems” in society that are easily overlooked and taken for granted. We get used to the lights always turning on. The toilets always flushing. The water for our coffee, always filling the pot.
When we slip on the Crocs and run to the store for donuts, they are always there. We never consider having to wait in line for them.
When we feel like a run, we run. When the park calls out, we respond, grab our bikes, sneaks or skateboards and do what we always do, whatever we want.
With this level of consistency and immediate satisfaction comes a price. But seldom are we truly asked to pay for it. Seldom are we made aware that it even exists.
So, it’s no surprise that when asked to change, what ain’t broken, we resist.
Change is often an inconvenience. A pain that is unnecessary, considering all the other pains that life has to offer already. Why change when the status quo is working?
Fast food is always there. It’s cheap. It’s convenient and it’s right down the block. That it inevitably adds calories where we least want them, is a small price to pay for drive-up, Happy Meals and a genuine Stars Wars Light Sword.
We work hard. We take little time off. Sacrifice quality time for over time and scramble to pay the bills. We’re up at 4:00 am, tired in the afternoon. Dragging during the drive home and when asked to choose between rest, softball practice, weeding, watering, sculpting the hedges, repainting the eaves, PTA Meet the Teacher night, or a quiet dinner at a great new restaurant, 40 miles away (outside dinning only), we take a time-out, sit on the john and cry. So, it’s no surprise that when asked to change, what ain’t broken, we resist.
But Life has a way of making us pay attention. Mother Nature, in her infinite wisdom, can get her point across like no one else, and when she does, it’s time.
In his article on the same topic, Timothy Key makes an excellent point. When calls for “Defunding the Police” ring out, it’s not a condemnation of every man and woman who wear a uniform. It’s a cry for help and reorganization. You wouldn’t go to your doctor for a check-up and drop off your dry-cleaning with the receptionist. You don’t ask your electrician to take a quick look at your Chevy’s transmission. And yet we keep asking police to do jobs they are not trained for or should be done by someone else.
We ask our politicians to make decisions that are actually ours to make. Why? Because it’s always been that way. And with every decision. With every wacky perspective imposed upon us by wonky thinking, we become one step further removed from being in charge of our own lives.
Flipping the switch and having light fill the room is perfectly normal. No need to ask every citizen to build a wind turbine in their backyards — at least for the time being.
When we flush — it’s okay to expect it to work. But not without some attention. Not without some supervision.
Life is tough, but it’s also beautiful and rewarding. And when the scales tip a little too far to one side, we might begin to panic, just a little, because we’re already overworked. And that’s okay.
When we look out over our cities and communities. When we drive down the streets and across town. When we step into shops and malls and government buildings, we are experiencing a society that has slowly evolved over centuries. We are looking at systems, some of which have been in place unchanged since 1852. Do they work? Sure. But out-houses worked too. Now we have indoor plumbing.
Voting worked. Then we made it okay for women and people of color to vote as well, and it worked even better.
The bar for change is set too high and the one that proves things are working just fine, too low.
Back in 1972 Richard Nixon won a second term as President by a landslide. He was doing a great job, so no need to change. Then Watergate erupted. Corruption was revealed. Hidden pressures exerted, wiretapping, illegal entry, wacky thinking galore and our system of government was put under a spotlight. Woodward and Bernstein won awards. Change was ordered. Change was made — in small does and trust returned to Washington. Sort of.
What happened then to bring about change was great. Was it sustained? Did we let up too soon? Looking at business as usual in Washington today probably gives us our answers.
But we needn’t look to Washington for guidance. They’re already looking elsewhere for that.
We need to find it where we’ve always found it — within ourselves.
Change is a piece of cake. We can get from Boston to Los Angeles in 6 hours, not 6 months. You can pick up an iPhone and call the Ukraine or text your grandmother trekking in Patagonia. You can sit in the backseat of your mother’s min-van and watch reruns of NCIS while driving to Peoria. We can build a 120-story skyscraper with 1400 bathrooms that all flush!
We can do anything. We only need two things to make it happen.
1. Noticing that something needs to change and not coming up with excuses on why it’s not broken
2. Doing it.
That’s it. The rest is logistics.
In 1998 you got your reference materials and guidance from your local library, teacher or rabbi. Today’s it’s the Internet. Billions of sites linked together to form an ever-flowing stream of information. Your iPhone has a more powerful computer than the Apollo space capsules that went to the Moon. Robots can build your car, mow your lawn, trim your beard and tell you when you’re low on orange juice.
We can do this.
“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” ― Alan W. Watts
Thanks Brian and Timothy. Adding a few of the tags they left behind and a few of my own.
Paul Myers MBA, Arthur G. Hernandez, Rasheed Hooda, Terry Mansfield, Bill Abbate, Sherry McGuinn, P.G. Barnett
Joe Luca is writer and editor for ILLUMINATION and a published author and writer of children’s stories, short fiction, non-fiction articles, screenplays and poetry. Publications include Child’s Life, Children’s Playmate and others. There are some other articles below — have a read. And thank you for stopping by.
