Almost three years ago, my daughter and I went to Egypt to celebrate her high school graduation. Having been homeschooled in her later years and also enduring the challenges of COVID as a teenager, it was important to me that we did something meaningful to mark the moment. 

I took the picture above at the Temple of Seti I in Abydos, which is dedicated to Osiris, the god of the afterlife. He teaches that there is potential for rebirth even after great struggle and pain, and it was one of the most powerful temples we visited. Egyptian Fruit Bats flew above our heads, in and out of all the mysterious chambers, free to move wherever they pleased. Winged mammalian messengers. Like Osiris, bats are symbolically associated with letting one thing end so another can begin.  

Enter politics because, well, it's on my mind every minute of every day. When I think about how much has changed from sailing down the Nile in 2022 to the 2024 election that has put Donald Trump in power for a second time, it's hard to breathe. I know many of you know this breathlessness, too. 

In my best moments (often few and far between), I believe the coming change is a necessary one because we have become too isolated and are facing even further isolation because of the many ways technology manipulates and uses us. It puts us in algorithmic rooms--the rooms it wants us to be in. It closes us off from different perspectives, points of view, beliefs, feelings and experiences. Our reality gets smaller and smaller. In my opinion, this isolation leads to a self-importance and ignorance that denies us an authentic connection to others and, more importantly, a sense of moral purpose that is essential to a meaningful life. I believe this isolation is how Donald Trump got elected again.

It is up to us to make changes in our daily humanity--to decide to reduce our social media time and get back into life. To break free of the rooms and false realities that technology is putting us in and open up our hearts and minds. To care for each other in radical ways. We may not be happy with where things are right now, but it's in the most difficult moments that we are most motivated to wake up and work towards something better. 

Let's get going.