"Of course they did..."

“Of course they did.”

This is one of the most common phrases I hear throughout the media. But even more so in day to day interactions with friends and family.

Whether we’re watching the news about robbing seniors of their pensions, cheating American regulations meant to protect at the cost of the environment, creating fraudulent bank accounts and charging customers the fees to cover them, sexual harassment in almost every major industry in the country, our president defending white nationalism to a point of white supremacy, and systemic racism in the form of murder of the black body almost once a week before COVID-19 kept everyone indoors. This list could keep going, but if the events themselves don’t leave us gasping at humanity for an understanding of how we got here, does a list even matter? Unfortunately, the numerous accounts don’t add weight to the reality. There is a numbness to the way in which we operate in society today, but I don’t believe it is intentional.

It is a necessary reaction to the degradation of the world around us manifesting itself in the loss of compassion that we once had for one another as a mechanism for defense and coping with overwhelm and over-stimulation. Hopelessness, in the guise of the phrase “of course they did” is uttered and then we all push forward. This phrase is a sign of complacence but it is not going anywhere, and the point I’d like to make is that this is ok.

Are we powerless to change the things that affect us? Never. We control the perception of our reality.

We may not be able to move oceans or part seas, but we can change the things within our influence, creating ripples in our ponds and lakes, maybe even redirecting a few rivers along the way. I am a person who uses the phrase “of course they did” all the time as a catch-all for not having words for the disgusting flavor of atrocity that month… or even week. I can watch the corporate corruption fester throughout the news, but to change the trajectory of a behemoth is impossible. This is why in this fast moving world, I try to effect change rapidly at a small scale through conversation, raising consciousness and awareness within my own spheres of influence.

We all have this power. Pay that wisdom forward every time an opportunity presents itself by having these [sometimes awkward] conversations with your friends, family, and co-workers, maybe even strangers. Consciousness is a collective effort.

Sure, it raises consciousness slowly, but also indomitably. Unfortunately, this corruption will only get worse before it gets better, but the whistleblowing and civilian coverage of it through social media will only intensify to counter. Whenever the opportunity presents itself, make the world a better place within your sphere of influence. Ultimately, we may not all be at fault but we are all responsible for the trajectory of humanity.