Yep. Life is mostly shit. Like, even before the whirlwind of conspiring events have shaken the world’s consciousness, most of life is pretty shitty. Stated plainly like that, I see how it reads cynical and negativist. But maybe accepting that statement as fact, then reflecting on it, we’ll find life being mostly shit isn’t as bad as it sounds.
First things first, let’s think about shit. Literal, stinky poo-poo shit. Excrement. Life consumes energy, consuming that energy makes waste. “Everybody Poops” presents as a kids book, but also perhaps a profound tome whose scientific accuracy and philosophical import will stand the test of time. It teaches us that your little kitty cat poops, your adorable puppy dog poops, so do you, and everyone else. We all have to eat, so, dammit, we’re going to have to shit. Even that prissy supermodel, with soft, flawless skin smelling of peaches sometimes has uncontrollable diarrhea. It’s an indisputable fact of humanity. An inescapable commonality.
Please don’t mistake that I’m trying to gather everyone holding hands, celebrating shit. I’m not a fan. Most people aren’t. Some are, and in higher numbers than I would have thought, based on my time on the internet. I don’t think I’m going out on a limb saying most people see shit as a burden, an unpleasant necessity to deal with. Even with indoor plumbing, silky soft 2-ply and other advancements in shit removal technology, it still sucks. You get your feet up on the Squatty Potty for full elimination, your heated bidet blasts your puckered hole pretty good, but you still have to give a quick tidy up/confidence wipe. There’s a fleck stuck on the bowl that you’ll have to scrub. Even in these primo, flush away, minimal contact conditions, any amount of shit is too much, and who wants to deal with it?
Luckily for many of us, and overall as a species, we have gotten much better at dealing with shit. In some ways, we really have our shit together. But everyone’s shit is different. We consume different things, in different quantities. Sure, we can classify types of pieces of shit, but your shit is uniquely you. Some people have more shit than others. It’s harder for some people to get rid of their shit. Some people keep it inside them way too long. Some people are full of it. If there’s anything people dislike more than their own shit, it’s other people’s. Gas station bathrooms are a testament to the fact that too many people spew it. Some people, despite many others’ shock and horror love their own shit, wallow in it, and love stirring it up and flinging it around. There are lots of people. There is lots of shit. And as long as life continues, there’s always more coming.
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As literal as I tried to keep the preceding passages, the obvious connections to physical shit and metaphorical shit leap out. We treat our symbolic shit a lot like we treat our physical shit. Trying to keep the amount we’re dealing with and the time spent on it to a minimum. And when we do deal with it, efforting to do so in the most effective way possible.
I think about how far humanity had to come to get to this privileged point in time where your nasty turds get whisked far away and smell-goods cover any evidence of the dirty deed. Over the course of millennia, people all over the world have been oppressed, enslaved, and coerced. The number of people, the patch of dirt they were born on top of, their physical attributes, their thoughts, beliefs and actions have varied widely. So have their relationships to their oppressors. Despite long lineage of constantly inciting conflict, exacting violence, destruction, and death upon our fellow humans, the power dynamics that swirl around us called society churns forward. And we somehow progress. To the point where we no longer have to dig a hole to squat over, city streets don’t have alleyways reeking of emptied chamber pots, and using your bare hand to clean your shitty ass-crack is an impossible idea. Unfortunately, at the bottom of society’s churn that affords us such magical capability comes at the cost of an undercurrent of impoverished, downtrodden, broken, and dead. The simple act of living in modern society is still at the behest of forced labor, in poor working conditions, despite anyone’s best intentions and attempts to make it otherwise.
That’s our shitty world. Ain’t no doubt, there are many beautiful things about life, but before we enjoy those things, we’re dealing with the shit, the waste of life. Most of everything we do, even the good stuff, is full boring, tedious shit.
For instance, work. I enjoy what I do. There’s a big rush, when the culmination of thousands of decisions and actions takes firing neurons in my brain and turns them into a thing that I can see, hear, touch, and enjoy. We can take these things and show them to thousands of people, who respond, who laugh, who give it hits, likes, and kind words. It possibly passes muster with my peers and sometimes they then hand you a statue that says, “Good shit, dude.” I can celebrate that feeling with the people I worked with to make it happen. That is glorious. But the way to glory is shit. It’s mostly typing, pointing, clicking, and dragging. Sometimes it’s saying and writing things. But mostly boring, filler, in-between bullshit. And so it goes for anything valuable that needs to be attained.
Boo hoo, poor baby with the super hard life of working on a computer for your fun job. All-in-all, the amount of shit I deal with is quite manageable, and I sit here and write this, I’m safe and comfortable. Though, despite this and being born in the 99.999% (could maybe add some more decimal places) best of situations, I’ve been buried in shit, too. Hard shit. Real shit. “Do I want to keep living?” shit. Chances are likely you have, too. And if we only bore the burden of our shit and our shit alone, that’d be one thing. But we are inextricably linked to everyone else's shit, and we’re surrounded by a world of it. From little bunny pellet poops, to Jurassic Park dino dumps. At any moment, you can slip on it and cause minor frustration. Any moment, it can come crashing down and end you.
It’s here where we lose the thread between physical shit and the metaphorical. We are always much better dealing the real, actual, physical shit. It can’t be denied. Your biases can. “You are like this.” Nu-uh! See. Now I don’t have to deal with whatever “this” is, and whether you are right or wrong to call me that. I could possibly throw a “No, YOU!” back at ya to really sidestep reflection and make you deal with trying to make me look inward. Or we can just go full chess playing pigeon. But you can’t spray a piece of shit with cologne and pretend it smells fine. Those shit notes will still cut through. And we as humans are dealing with metaphorical mountains of shit, who much like their geological brethren, take a long time to get stacked that high. This 10 year old, half-empty bottle of Aqua Di Gio ain’t goin’ do shit on this shit.
Here’s some of the shit heaps we’re all dancing around. Yes, you had educators that taught you something that turned out to be untrue. Media has distorted perspective of events. Your government lies to you. Your parents have lied to you. Scientists and researchers confidently think they have found an answer and turn out to be wrong. Your spouse, friends, family sometimes, kinda fucking hate you. And if some of those people you love knew certain things about you, they might not love you anymore. You would think differently about them if certain things came to light. Power structures have and will continue to conspire against you in ways big and small. People promise to do one thing, and they do another. And sometimes we invest a lot in those promises and confidently passed-down truth statements. And holy shit, the pain that comes to your ego when confronted with the fact that you! Dear sweet you, who's just trying to get along, do your best and make sense of it all were wrong. You were misled. You were a hypocrite. Ya fucked up.
That right there is some shit. Quite a bit for anyone to deal with. And this is, like, the standard human experience across time and peoples. And even as shit as things seem right now, even compared to the relatively recent past, it is all STILL exponentially better than the grand majority of all lives lived EVER! It’s still unbearably and unacceptably shitty at times. What are we to do with all this shit? Our metaphorical cologne can’t help us pretend the shit isn’t there. We need something simple. A tool that most everyone can have access to. For those who don’t have access, it should be abundant enough they can depend on those around them who do have it to help them out. Back from metaphor to physical.
A see a pile of shit. I think I need a shovel.
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Just like we all have our own metaphorical shit, we all have our own metaphorical shovel. Just like the quantitative and qualitative properties of our shit is different, so are our shovels. These properties affect the performance of these shovels’ purpose: shovelling shit.
Most people have a nice ol’ standard garden shovel. You can turn some earth, but if you’ve got a decent amount of shit, it’s gonna take time and persistent effort to deal with all that shit. Some people’s shovels are broader like snow shovels, and have ergonomic designs and can move more volume, quicker and at less risk to our intrepid shit shoveler. Others, barely have a spoon. The less fortunate have nothing but their own hands to deal with all this shit, and the even less fortunate are physically incapable of any sort of shovel operation. The most fortunate have fucking earth movers. Which is understandable when you’re moving metric tons of shit for yourself or on others behalf, but some people have these monstrosities despite not having nearly as much as shit as their neighbors, and still refuse to help, even as everyone around them drowns in it.
No matter how much shit there is, no matter the size of the shovel, the only way to get rid of it is to start shovelling. And keep at it with consistency and urgency. And this is where we spend most of our lives, in the shit, shovelling away. Commuting. Worrying about loved ones. Making the bed. Physical Therapy. Breaking up. Boiling water. Shaving. Sitting in meetings. Keepin’ shit moving. Trying to stay regular.
Despite the fact that others are going to dump a bunch of shit. Hopefully the shovelling outpaces input, and you build relationships with other shovellers to help compound your efforts and may you find moments where you’ve completely cleared a nice patch where you can enjoy a shit-free space to reap your rewards, if even only for moments before the next mudslide comes in and it’s time to grab your shovel again. And if you have more shovel than shit, I hope you use it to help dig someone out who in too deep.
Some say stop and smell the roses. I say stop and smell the shit. And let’s start digging.
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I decided to write this amidst the outpouring of response to the murder of George Floyd. As events unfolded, and every meeting I participated in turned into a discussion and outpouring of support, I didn’t add to it. Not because I didn’t share the sentiments and concern, but just because many people with much more credibility than me were saying things I thought better than I can put them. I decided to remain still, listen, observe and reflect rather than enter the fray. As these conversations unfolded, a family emergency dumped a Denali on the Mount Everest of shit that’s already going on. A somber day of reflection on #BlackoutTuesday turned into one even moreso. As days went on and discussions with hurting, worried and scared team members continued along parallel discussions with hurting, worried, and scared family members, the less acceptable silence became. Especially when a lot of what I heard and read were black voices asking specifically to stop being silent.
But at the same time, the words are easy. I can type white text on a black background and easily say the obvious words that so many brands were so quick to fill social media timelines with. You can mimic styles and feign sincerity. I’m not into performative white guilt. So finding the right way for me to express how I’m feeling, and making sure it is what is wanted to be hard before breaking my silence was important.
For so long, the mindset was simply just try not to not be shitty. Don’t be a racist. Don’t be sexist. Know people by the content of their character. Recognize the advantage of opportunity you were afforded. But you can only hear so many “I don’t see/care about [attributes]” and “I’m not [something bad]-st, my [relationship] is an [attribute]” before it starts sounding like bullshit, even if it’s true, and that list of racially diverse, LGBTQA+, and differently abled friends is a mile long. Likes and avatar changes are not enough. What I think I heard was people who look different than me want to see faces that look like mine stand up for them on their behalf, and state plainly and simply that we hear their pain and acknowledge their feelings. and are committed to making the world more fair and equitable for all. They want to know that the words that are posted so easily on social media are more than that. They want to see our receipts.
Quick aside, when I say “equitable for all” and using [attributes] and don’t refer to identities personal and political in my shit and shovel ramblings as a response to the Floyd outcry, I’m not trying to skirt confronting race, or doing any both sides-ing or “All Lives Matter” bullshit. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery. These names are important, they are kick starting the dialogue, and I unequivocally state Black Lives Matter.
It just really sucks that we even have come to the point where we have to come out and say it. Because, at least my generation (I’m an elder-Millennial, I suppose) we all heard PSAs about all kinds of good and ethical things. I’ve made plenty myself! We were the early wave of multicultural and diversity education. Not judging based on skin color, and our differences are less important than what binds us. We absorb it at a young age. We felt like it was unnecessary, because despite incidents on the news, or words said by friends or family members, it was all minimized. It’s just an isolated incident; Maybe there’s more to the story; I’m sure it’s just a joke, he’s not really racist; But they use that word, why can’t I? Maybe he’s kind of racist, but he’s not as racist as this more racist-er person, and what can you do? It’s family; They’re set in their ways; They grew up in a different time; We’re post-racial. That’s not ME. That’s not US.
It’s not just now, it’s not just Floyd, Taylor, and Arbery. Because, sadly, they are the most recent names in a long list. Why wasn’t it Trayvon Martin? Tamir Rice? Or Eric Garner? Or Emmit Till. It’s Jim Crow Laws. It’s The 3/5 Compromise. It’s slavery.
But why not Orlando? Why not Sandy Hook? Why not Columbine? Why not Oklahoma City? I mean 2 World Wars? We couldn’t even get that right the first time. Why didn’t we learn from any of the other empires that have risen and fallen? Why not the brown kids at our borders RIGHT NOW, that are caged and separated from their guardians? Why didn’t we hear any of the numbers of messengers of peace presented to us over the ages?
Why this and why now? Cleary, Covid and its aftermath put the world in a deep state of reflection. I know I’m unoriginal in this observation. People far and wide are questioning and comparing so many things. Do our actions align with our values? Are our values correct? What are the priorities? Who can I listen to? Who can I trust?
The racial unrest is another symptom created by drinking from the poisoned well that is our current social conversation. It’s attacking the free press. It’s the militarization of the local police and treating community members as enemy combatants. It’s screaming at people working tirelessly to keep us healthy and alive that they are willing perpetrators of a world-wide hoax. It’s warping the perspective of what are rights, what are privileges, and what are responsibilities, and where do those loyalties lie. It’s the assault on the concepts of openness, transparency. It’s bald faced lies and all the other 1984, dystopian tactics. It’s denying you said the thing we have fucking recordings of you saying, the words you wrote. Bernays, Goebbels. Hitler, Stalin. The playbooks are out there. It can happen here. It IS happening here. We must stop it.
The silent majority… a REAL silent majority... of sane people are waking up. We are tired of polarization. We are tired of pretending that “both” sides of a given issue are always worthy of equal consideration. We are tired of it being presented to us like that. We are tired of an army of Dunning-Kruger dipshits pretending they know more than people who dedicate their lives to given subjects and topics after they watch someone say something confidently on a YouTube video over ominous music. We are tired consumers being left defenseless against a barrage of bullshit and predatory business practices that lean on their bought and paid for “legality” to lie to customers, take their money, and penalize the poor for being poor. Or that take advantage of peoples desire for a better more prosperous life. No, you’re not going to become a billionaire working from your phone, copy and pasting pitches from your upline to people you haven’t talked to since high school. Statistics say, it’s overwhelmingly likely it’ll cost you not only money but friends. I’m sorry somebody made you believe that.
We are tired expectations of ceasing and never ending growth and brutalist demand on efficiency, the rewards of which we continually see less and less of. We are not machines, We are not livestock. And, by the way, we really need to look at livestock and we make our food. Because we’re tired of waste. We’re tired of being poisoned. Whiskey exists. I’ll do that on my own. We are tired of our safety net being attacked with a chainsaw. We’re tired of thumbs on the scales. We are tired of the majority of the people who agree on how we should take care of each other being silenced by moneyed few and their corrupt executors. We are tired of ideological purity tests. We are tired of rules that apply to us, but not the powerful. Not the ones who do the most damage. And finally, we’re being pushed. In ways both positive. And negative. We are speaking. We are acting.
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Here is how I will act.
Acknowledge a reality that exists beyond my own consciousness, where objective truth exists independent of mine and other’s perception and observation of it.
I also have to acknowledge that despite this external reality existing, multitudes of perspectives exist, and unfortunately, despite 1 thing being true, we’re not all going to see it that way. The good thing is, through these multitudes, we can work together to gather evidence and learn things. Lots of things. Like, with really insane accuracy. Not everything. And not perfectly. But pretty good.
In that vein, I would like to offer my professional media services for volunteer education and media projects that center on education. Education and knowledge will not only defeat racism, it’s the key to unlocking the answers to a lot of problems. General education, but projects that promote things like diversity & inclusion, science and media literacy, critical thinking, human behavior and psychology. Any possible projects you might know of, hit me up!
Just in general, hop into volunteering again. I hit pause because of physical issues, it’s time to get back in the swing of things, specifically I previously volunteered with HandsOn.org, I did some family activity nights at the Salvation Army with families in temporary housing situations, and one I wanted to do but never got the chance is helping people trying to get back on their feet with interview prep.
Speaking of interviews, as a decision maker in hiring processes… we have been and will continue to make sure our interview slate has a wide array of voices. Developing relationships with educators and students to help coach our future talent pool, disseminating tools and knowledge that help people express themselves freely.
As a media member, being thoughtful in what I produce and how. To take the potential of what I create and how into account, thinking how it impacts others.
Probably a good time to find some worthy causes to contribute to financially. Serialize some of my current ones like the Cleveland Food Bank and the United Way.
Extend the invitation to all my friends, but especially now my black friends, friends of other colors of the rainbow, and really, just anyone who wants to talk. Lots of faces I scroll past who I’ve bonded and created memories with. Ya know I miss ya, I’m just a bad reacher-outer. Please let me know if you’d like to reconnect.
Motherfucking VOTE. And not just for the top spot. Time to really engage in local government and FINALLY let them know what I REALLY think about current zoning propositions. Oh you guys are gonna get it now.
Keep reading. Keep listening.
It’s a modest list for now, and if it doesn’t seem like enough, I apologize. While emotions are high, I don’t want this to be like New Year’s Resolutions, “I’m gonna lose weight, I’m going to save money, I’m going to quit smoking”. Like I said before, the words are and the goals are easy. Being constantly charged and emotionally raw is unsustainable. Emotional wind in our sails are great motivators, there will inevitably be some regression to the mean. I’ll probably make a lot of mistakes. Real change is going to take some shovelling, and it’s not going to be as motivating and inspiring as it is right now, in this moment. It’s going to be typing, pointing, clicking, mailing, calling, boring-ass city hall meetings, Let’s help each other make it a habit. Help me grow it. Keep me accountable. Hope to see you out there soon.