A New Story
I am currently taking a course in non-violence studies with the Metta Center for Non-Violence. One of my assignments is to write a new story. All of us carry with us different stories that help shape our lives and our experiences. In order for us to change, the best way is to have a new story that can compellingly replace the old story. In this assignment, I was told to envision this new story and so I wrote it as through I am 80 years old. Here is my new story. New Story In the year 2058, I am of the human age of 80 years old. I was born in Singapore and lived there for the first 20 years of my life. When I was there, I was taught that to make it as a “successful” person, I would have to work extremely hard, contribute to society, be good at school and learn to obey instructions. I was also told to never question your parents or the government. I was cautioned to never make any mistakes because being a failure was not an option if I wanted to make it. Singapore was a conservative country built on traditional Confucian values. Gender equality was unbalanced. The society was homophobic. Taboo issues were not allowed as discussion anywhere. Religions were the core tenet keepers of society. Crime and punishment were harsh. The death penalty killed many. Everyone lives comfortably but in fear of “breaking the law.” There was no such thing as free speech. And the only way to be happy is if you were rich and owned a lot of things. Everything was black and white and I was right in the middle – I was grey. I was introduced to Buddhism at a young age but it was misguided. The teachings of Buddhism were blended with Confucianism. People treated Buddha as god. Rules were imposed. I was not allowed to question 'Buddha God.” There was a strong emphasis on punishment and bad karma. I then realised that the path that I was seeking then was not one that I wanted to be on. I was extremely unhappy. I needed to leave. Then I moved to Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada. And I experienced an identity crisis as an immigrant. I did not want to be a Singaporean but I also wasn't a Canadian. I was exposed and vulnerable. My world view shattered within my mind and my body. I lost all sense of who I was and I almost took my life. It was then that I discovered kindness. And for the first time, I understood the world. I realised that if I wanted to continue living in this world, I needed to look at the world through the lens of being kind. By 2009, so many wars had happened around the world. I learnt about systemic oppression, an economic system that imprisoned the lives of so many, forcing people to work harder without due compensation. There was an over-reliance on the idea of money. Materialism is at an all-time high. The media churns out fake images everyday, stifling the minds of the young and the old. And so I studied, through books and connecting with others. I went back to school at 30 because I wanted to be kind to myself. So I studied art. And then I realised that I could continue my journey of kindness through creativity. My world opened. I saw all kinds of freedom and I worked hard to question my stories. And my stories kept on changing. By 2015, I was fully aware of social issues like oppression, white privilege, race, class, caste, environmental destruction, violence, trauma, conflict, post-colonization issues, First Nations issues, gender issues, and sexuality issues. And so I engaged in healing through art, anti-oppression practises, decolonization practises, spoke out on gender equality, connected with First Nations People, ate foods that were ethically sourced, recycled and up-cycled, reused and re-purposed, participated in movements for peace, learnt restorative justice and continually address my privilege as a male-bodied mixed-raced man, embraced feminist ideas, focused my time on building meaningful relationships, collaborated with others on creative ways to bring people from different cultures together and continued to talk to others about the importance of kindness. My story had never stop evolving. Now I am in my 80th year of my human life and I am living the new story. Through the efforts of many people who love the Earth, we are now using renewable energy. There are no longer any oil pipelines in the world. Bio-remediation has and continues to help heal the land and the seas. As a result of an education revolution, “Schools of the Earth” were opened up to bring forth an education system that is holistic and cooperative. Students no longer compete with each other for grades. Instead, they work together based on their interests and motivations with others to come up with ways to assist others in their community, as well as engaging in self-development from a spiritual level. First Peoples now live in chosen “Sacred Territories” instead of reservations and everyday, they continue to pass on their sacred traditional knowledge to others and act as stewards of the land and the sea. They are the first ones to impart knowledge to student at the Schools of the Earth, teaching them about the natural world. Resource gathering and management are now handled by community cooperatives. Because of bio-remediation efforts, many lands were healed and food is now once again growing out of fertile soils. Permaculture is now a common practise among families. Wasteful consumption is at an all-time low and everyone is consuming what's enough for them. This also means that people are happier because they are eating better food. 2058 is also the year that commemorates 30 years of world economic redesign. When the previous world economic system proved unsustainable and about to collapse, government entities were gradually disabled by the public and cooperative economic models were undertaken to ensure repair to broken systems while maintaining peace in the world. A lot of hard work was undertaken to prevent the world from going into economic shock that could have led to war. Instead, countries got together and created an equitable economic model that saw mass cooperation, as well as the provision of economic resources through an equitable world economic system to countries that were marginalized by the previous system. Racial differences no longer create tensions, instead are celebrated and accepted because every one recognizes that beneath the colour is the soul and we are all part of the same soul that ignites the kindness and empathy within us. By 2020, all wars have stopped and peace had prevailed. Conflicts now are solved through restorative justice practises. Circle dialogues have taken precedence to address social issues. All forms of gender expressions are acknowledged mostly worldwide. It is no longer a taboo to embrace a gender other than male or female. Impressively enough, the country that I was born in, Singapore became one of the earliest countries to embrace all genders and extended basic rights to all. While oppression still exists in some countries, most have taken on democratic governance. The federal government no longer makes decisions on behalf of the country but instead acts as a facilitator of smaller local governments, as well as providing infrastructures to help local governments build healthy and interconnected communities. Work days have been reduced to 4 days per week, 6 hours a day. Workers are paid wages that are sustainable for them. Family relationships have improved drastically and our seniors are no longer living in seniors homes. Instead, they are living in the community with their families, enjoying meaningful and healthy lives. This is not just my new story. This is everyone's new story. Years ago, I saw invisible threads that connected each and everyone of us and only a few saw it. Today, everyone can see the thread that binds us and because of that, we are kinder to each other and are no longer alone and isolated. We are a community. I am my community and it is through these threads that we learnt to build this kinder, gentler and beautiful world.