I am different now

It was convenient for me to be privileged and unconnected to the woes of the world

Privilege is the ability to decide wether something pertains to you

Boil water advisories are for poor and indigenous people

Homelessness is for those who made bad choices

Floods were the plague of trailer parks and those who couldn’t afford the view suits

As I stand waist deep in water of affluence, I wonder what “privileged” system turned on the taps

Was I asleep at the wheel?

Did I not listen to the public municipal zoning discussions about building in the forest zone vulnerable to fires, or building approvals in the flood plains? Did those indigenous wisdom keepers get ignored; were they invited?

Was I numb to the killing of bears who “invaded” “our space”? Or was I one of those who “blamed the deer” for grazing in what once was their natural lands.

As I stand blood stained, blisters on hand, wet and tired, I think I am different now.

As I wipe my sweaty brow, and I pack the last sand bag, I can say, I am different now.

I am one of those who are a piece of the land, who is responsible for current disasters and have choices for future impacts. Every single decision matters. Didn’t someone say “be the change”? Does this mean I have to “put down my extra hot, non-fat, no foam, vanilla latte and vote for progressive leaders”? Didn’t “someone else do this?”

My voice will carry the voice of a thousand song birds; I am living a reality of the “delusion” of what I thought others were supposed to do”.

I am different now

Carl