I think of this moment in time as an iceberg. Pre-pandemic, when time moved quickly and we were endlessly consumed by entertainment, money and distractions, we focused the bulk of our attention on the tiny triangle of ice we could see, hear, taste, touch and smell. But underneath is what really matters.
This Covid-19 pandemic has given us the opportunity to go deeper. First within ourselves, then wider into the society we’ve been living in. Staying home and closing down the economy has served as an invitation to examine our usual practices in a variety of areas: how we spend our time, our money, our lives. What are our priorities? What do we want most in life?
Right now, major cities in the US are rising up against tyranny, injustice and brutality. Around the world, including in my own country of Canada, people are protesting in solidarity with those who have long been oppressed, silenced and murdered. We are seeing the visible tip of the iceberg here, but underneath is a roiling tsunami of historical rage that is once again spilling over.
In theory, I am a pacifist who abhors violence, but since 2016 I’ve been angry in every one of my bones (a friend of mine takes this image further by saying the rage has spilled into her very DNA). I cannot help but wonder if this large-scale violence is getting us somewhere new and better. For a long time now, I’ve been questioning if it’s even possible to make a fairer world without destroying our current structure.
Patriarchy requires oppression to function. And secrecy, which means lies. To get to truth and justice, which make up the rest of the iceberg that we cannot see because it’s so far beneath the surface, we might need to destroy some things. I was initially hopeful that the pandemic itself would serve this purpose, by allowing us to reset our understanding of our modern society in order to devise better systems, but underneath the virus is an undercurrent of rage with an incredible amount of force and power in it.
Something important is happening here. I love the conversations online about privilege. Every one of us needs to be involved, in whatever way we can, to care and support and advocate for a world that is actually fair for everyone, not just the rich or the white or the powerful. A rising tide lifts all boats, and what’s underneath this pandemic and these riots is a powerful force of change.
The saddest thing would be to come out of these turbulent months with our society unchanged. Staying on the surface, focused only on the tip of the iceberg, is not getting us anywhere. It’s time to swim, to dive deeper, to allow ourselves to be uncomfortable and in danger, for this is the engine of social change. Keep going lower, even when it hurts. Especially then. The truth lives in the darkest waters. If we want a fairer world we have to build it from the wreckage. This work needs every one of us to swim down to the depths and face what’s underneath.