Free AI web copilot to create summaries, insights and extended knowledge, download it at here

Abstract

, and protests are enough. Shortages of everything are enough. An impending financial collapse is enough.Barack and Michelle Obama’s Netflix apocalyptic movie, “Leave the World Behind,” released in time for Christmas is more than enough. There’s only so much a positive outlook can manage — burying our heads in the sand is conversely, not enough.Speculation is swirling like cotton candy around the hidden messages of catastrophe in this film. Could it happen? Yes, a cyberattack could shut down our nationwide power grid and cripple the United States — we could go completely dark. So much for a Holly Jolly Christmas. Geez. That’s the spirit.Now go enjoy the holidays with your family — it could be your last.We know all about fear. What has it done for you lately?<blockquote id="f405">Fear is the cheapest room in the house; I would like to see you living in better conditions. ~Halfez</blockquote>If fear is the cheapest room in the house, love and hope dwell in the loftiest corner. Yet neither will ever cost us more than fear in a lifetime. The doomsayers are not helping.Why do we invest so much time in fear — what makes it so alluring? We never receive our return on investment; we get a cheap dark room where mold looms, grows over our creativity, snuffing the flame from our future reducing it to ash.Fear is our investment in suffering — when we manufacture, bottle, and sell it to ourselves, we don’t need chains of outside influences to cage our hearts and minds. We’re doing a great job on ourselves. Government need not apply. We have a lifetime to be fea

Options

rful or not.We all talk about living in the moment. The moment has come. If we don’t live in the moment now, we may be missing the greatest pinnacle of our human existence.Our bubble shelter we call home should be our refuge where warmth, compassion, peace, and empathy thrive. Shall we heed the imminent warning of all the dangers in the world at this moment, today?We should focus on family, loved ones near and far — asking how we can help a neighbor, volunteering to help feed the homeless. How about expanding a child’s mind by reading to them about their history and ancestry, baking cookies, toasting, and kissing under the mistletoe?This is the “NOW” moment we need to cherish — carpe diem. Leave a legacy of good times in remembrance of all of us who have had the luxury. Continue to teach the look of joy through heartfelt expression — share the giddiness in our footsteps.If we envision a dismal future, we will build accordingly — a dismal future will become our reality in all facets of life.Sit around the fireplace, sing Christmas carols, enjoy a special meal together and for goodness sake, pass those stories down to your children about Uncle John who smoked like a chimney, Aunt Helen who dressed to the nines, Grandma Holmes who could foresee the future, Cousin Jackie who loved to entertain, so they may have memories of those familial ties, too and draw upon a bounty of joyful experiences when we leave the world behind.In this moment of NOW, I want to see the bright side and you should too. 🌞© 2023 Toya Qualls-Barnette</article></body>

All I Want for Christmas is to See the Bright Side

Find your happy place before we leave the world behind

As we close the door, leave another year in our rearview, my hope is we collectively leap forward with love, peace, and joy in our hearts feeling a warm welcome in all spaces — letting go of places where we don’t thrive, creating a new vision of places where we do.

It’s been a challenging year for some. With inflation wreaking havoc on the economy and personal budgets, loved ones who were called home to their final resting place unexpectedly, others dealing with a health crisis, lest we forget our global brothers and sisters living in war-torn countries, and those laid off from their jobs as the holidays roll in is a travesty.

We’re all left to wonder how our lives will be impacted by the politics of our governance. Will we ever feel comfortable again with a future so unpredictable? Dependent on leaders who have failed us and continue spiraling down an unknown path?

Yet we hold on to hope, trying our best to remain positive when deep down inside, there’s a shrill knowing we can’t quite shake. Something bigger than us is brewing.

The pandemic was enough. Racial and social disruption in America is enough. Police brutality, lost lives, wars, and protests are enough. Shortages of everything are enough. An impending financial collapse is enough.

Barack and Michelle Obama’s Netflix apocalyptic movie, “Leave the World Behind,” released in time for Christmas is more than enough. There’s only so much a positive outlook can manage — burying our heads in the sand is conversely, not enough.

Speculation is swirling like cotton candy around the hidden messages of catastrophe in this film. Could it happen? Yes, a cyberattack could shut down our nationwide power grid and cripple the United States — we could go completely dark. So much for a Holly Jolly Christmas. Geez. That’s the spirit.

Now go enjoy the holidays with your family — it could be your last.

We know all about fear. What has it done for you lately?

Fear is the cheapest room in the house; I would like to see you living in better conditions. ~Halfez

If fear is the cheapest room in the house, love and hope dwell in the loftiest corner. Yet neither will ever cost us more than fear in a lifetime. The doomsayers are not helping.

Why do we invest so much time in fear — what makes it so alluring? We never receive our return on investment; we get a cheap dark room where mold looms, grows over our creativity, snuffing the flame from our future reducing it to ash.

Fear is our investment in suffering — when we manufacture, bottle, and sell it to ourselves, we don’t need chains of outside influences to cage our hearts and minds. We’re doing a great job on ourselves. Government need not apply. We have a lifetime to be fearful or not.

We all talk about living in the moment. The moment has come. If we don’t live in the moment now, we may be missing the greatest pinnacle of our human existence.

Our bubble shelter we call home should be our refuge where warmth, compassion, peace, and empathy thrive. Shall we heed the imminent warning of all the dangers in the world at this moment, today?

We should focus on family, loved ones near and far — asking how we can help a neighbor, volunteering to help feed the homeless. How about expanding a child’s mind by reading to them about their history and ancestry, baking cookies, toasting, and kissing under the mistletoe?

This is the “NOW” moment we need to cherish — carpe diem. Leave a legacy of good times in remembrance of all of us who have had the luxury. Continue to teach the look of joy through heartfelt expression — share the giddiness in our footsteps.

If we envision a dismal future, we will build accordingly — a dismal future will become our reality in all facets of life.

Sit around the fireplace, sing Christmas carols, enjoy a special meal together and for goodness sake, pass those stories down to your children about Uncle John who smoked like a chimney, Aunt Helen who dressed to the nines, Grandma Holmes who could foresee the future, Cousin Jackie who loved to entertain, so they may have memories of those familial ties, too and draw upon a bounty of joyful experiences when we leave the world behind.

In this moment of NOW, I want to see the bright side and you should too. 🌞