Blink and you'll miss it

Wow! Summer 2024 is definitely one for the history books - with ample opportunity to ask that (in)famous question: ’Where were you when..?’.

‘Where were you when Simone Biles literally catapulted herself back to the top of the Olympic podium?’

'Where were you (eyes covered, toes curled) when Joe Biden and Donald Trump met on the debate stage?’ and ‘Where were you when Joe Biden (finally) decided to step down?’

‘Where were you when a surprise coalition upended a practically given French election result?’

And just this past week, ‘Where were you when riots broke out across the UK?’

These moments obviously don’t even cover a summer where the war in Ukraine continues to rage, as tensions in the Middle East fail to ease.

So pulling the plug and just laying in a field listening to the grass grow was not just a ‘nice to have’ this year, but also a ‘need to have’; to preserve one’s sanity, but also to remain positive about our shared future. 

We need the energy to stay informed about - and alert to - changes that have been creeping towards us, in some cases for years, but have now developed into full-blown crises. We see autocrats either remaining or ascending to power across the globe, we see inequality on the rise as those who have remain resistant to cede wealth to the have nots, and we see migrant patterns changing daily in large part due to climate change. 

But equally, we are slowly, slowly hearing louder voices for change, opposing autocrats, considering the consequences of inequality, and developing new and exciting ideas to battle climate change. 

The studies have landed, the books are being published in droves, and the dangers are so clear and present that even the debates are becoming more nuanced. Yes, there will always be some who prefer the ‘black or white’ responses, those for whom the essential gray matter between the poles doesn’t serve them well, but hopefully a restful summer has given us all the drive to argue against opportunistic polarization and for unity.

Even the most self aware among us struggle with confirmation bias, but I will risk it and report from my recent trip to America, that there is a palpable sense of relief. No one really knows where the country is headed yet, but there are now two people at the top of the Democratic ticket who reflect, to a much greater extent, the population of the country, be they immigrants, people of color, or a slice of white Middle America; two people who prefer to look to the future instead of beating up on the past, and that, for now, at least, feels more hopeful.