Reclaiming Agency in the Age of Chaos

A vibrant yellow rose stands against a dark background, symbolizing resilience and the power of choice with the message: "Even in the dark, I choose to bloom. I’m not boycotting. I’m making choices."

I’m not boycotting; I’m making choices. November 2024 I cancelled my Washington Post subscription. I stopped watching all news including MSNBC, CNN, and my favorite YouTube political broadcasts. I was exhausted. I knew the exhaustion I was feeling in November was just the beginning. As the election season turned into holiday shopping, I pondered how I could do things differently?

In January, I divested from companies that did not align with my values; more specifically, I sold my Tesla stock. I stopped shopping at Walmart, Target, and Amazon. I downloaded my data and deleted my Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. My only social media is LinkedIn. These decisions were not easy. Shopping, scrolling, and posting gave me joy. I’m not angry with any of the companies. They make decisions based on their bottom line. I make decisions based on my values, simply put I decided I would no longer consciously contribute to their profits.

The United States has always bowed at the altar of capitalism, and this worship is how our system works. From the beginning of the nation, the indentured servants, religious zealots, and exiled prisoners desired the stature of the aristocracy from which they came. The feverish desire for wealth required stripping the rights of others. Hatred, cheating, raping, mutilating, and murdering can all be seen in the zealous desire for wealth and exploitation. Money was their religion, exploitation their constant prayer. This nation, our nation is designed for consumption. And we continue to play a zero-sum-game of resources. The expectation is clear, the individual with the most wins, no matter the cost.

The framers of the constitution intentionally designed the caste system in which we live. We see it in Article one, section two of the Constitution where they memorialized the three-fifths compromise. The paradox of the founding documents continues to plague the nation. How can all be created equal when it is founded on subjugation?

I have decided to no longer worship at the altar of capitalism, colonialism, and the constructs of race and supremacy. I have agency. I challenge us to question what has always been because, in reality, it has harmed us all.

On one hand we are in the #AgeOfChaos, while also living in the #AgeOfLeisure. News reports of sweeping changes keep us off balance. The day-to-day uncertainty has us wondering, “what’s next?” In spite of the seemingly endless, sweeping changes, beauty can be birthed from darkness. The goal of the agents of chaos is to keep us afraid, off balance, apathetic, and numb for their own benefit. Our responsibility is to find our joy, our peace, our liberation.

In order to move forward, to create something new, first we must read or write — this action moves us from our fear brain to our thinking brain. After we move to our thinking brain we must rest. Resting gives us the spaciousness to dream; dreaming is the gateway to imagination. When we imagine we create new ways of being, thinking, and knowing. In teaching about the Civil War and the United States Colored Troops, historian Hari Jones would say "Us saved Us." Now more than ever these words ring true. We are in the midst of creating what will be. The question is, what will we choose?