Confinement Diary - Day 9 (retrospective)

Mourning!

The earth is said to be breathing a sigh of relief as reports of signs the ozone layer may be healing, of the air purifying, of dolphins returning to the Venice canals, to nature enjoying a break from the human bulldozer machine, of endangered species getting a fighting chance...these come as blessings we are willing to accept in exchange for the misery and horror that has descended upon mankind...

As man set out to mark his passage on this earth, documented his achievements and experiences on cave walls, on papyrus then on canvas...did he do so because he was eternal? No, he did it because he was ephemeral and fragile, symbiotic of his environment and other living beings he sought to hunt, eat, destroy or understand, save and protect.

We are full of contradictions and paradoxes, we pillage and rape this planet, explore its deepest confines and dig out it's most dangerous organisms with no regard for boundaries nor respect for other beings, flora or fauna, and no regard or perhaps an over estimation of our abilities to deal with the consequences.

I always want to believe we will learn from our mistakes and leave something for future generations, a planet that is liveable perhaps, but as history keeps on repeating itself and seeing how we don't seem to have learnt anything from our past, just an example; the Spanish flu pandemic which in 1918 took between 30 and 50 million souls, my heart sinks a little and think we may not outlast this planet or this virus!

It is said that of all hominid species, Homo Erectus was the most successful in longevity, only one to survive over a million years, Homo Sapiens, I fear will not reach half that before we succumb to a self brought extinction.

What does give me hope, is the love, compassion and support humans seem to portray in times of crises, they are brought together by fear, love and self preservation and I want to believe that humanity will be saved after all... 

But perhaps all out combined efforts and good intentions are not enough, when war mongers are presently plotting yet another war amidst the chaos and suffering.

Stay safe out there (or in there..if you're in confinement) 

A few thoughts and a lot of Chocolate!

Every time you decide it’s time to attempt to lead a light, fun and worry-free life because what you have on your mind suffices as torture and you decide you have your share of grey hairs for your age, another tragedy hits, a bomb in Iraq, an ex-terrorist starts a political party in Algeria and threatens to Islamise us, famine in Yemen, a toddler’s little body drifts dead on a beach in Turkey and gathers far less attention than the last beached whale, or that last white person who needed stitches on his pinkie.

Several Syrian people peril at sea trying to flee their war torn land, more Ebola in Sierra Leon, more people die in police custody, all of them black, more violence against women, more cases of rape and FGM somewhere you don’t remember, more right wing policies and more anti-immigration noise made, more Anti-Islam this and more terrorist organisations now than ever, some have embassies others are just imbeciles.

You don’t know where to look anymore, you feel lost, wherever you look, there is despair and struggle, when once you felt you could help change things, today you feel useless and unimportant, so you eat chocolate and you try not to think about what would happen to the world in a few years, they say Gaza will be uninhabitable and the world will be drier than ever, death tolls will be higher, the planet will be warmer, well at least the reasons for war will be clearer!

Despondent, pessimistic, fat and possibly hormonal, you yearn for better times, when you try to remember the last time you were thin there was peace in the world, you can’t remember, so you eat more chocolate and try to maintain a shallow thought pattern, it’s for self-protection you understand, at least we can achieve that with chocolate, what does it take for the directly afflicted to feel safe again, to feel home again? Certainly not chocolate!

Dz-Chick…I'll aim for a more cheerful post next time!