Are we one?  

One within the boundaries of our humanity?  

Or one within ourselves only.  

Islands within.

Alone.

"Nemo est insula."  No man is an island."

Or are we islands unto ourselves?

Are we, after all, living solo as one navigating a vast sea of people, distractions and ever changing perceptions of oneness?

The oneness that we became the moment we came into this world, struggling for that first breath, crying out when cut loose from the safety and security of the womb.

Bitter Reality from the first moment of our brutal birthing process into this life. 

A part of a whole.

The breaking of bread.

The pulling apart...a broken thread.

Survival of the fittest a grim reality;

a lesson taught to the very young. 

Streaming, screaming through life.  

A need to be heard and seen as one with some spark of potential.

The struggling, competing, imitating, yearnings.

A need to reinvent oneself time and time again.

Who am I?  

Who are you?

What are we doing?

Why is it so important?

We are alone.

We stand alone.

We lie alone in the darkness, even if in our family bed.

Alone with our thoughts, our fears, our shortcomings, our nightmares.

Our dreams, hopes, joys, blessings and desire for good luck. 

The inner struggle to survive everything that's out there.

Outside ourselves.

Our comfort zone.

We all have one and surely it varies by individual.

The zone by which we define our limits; our expectations of ourselves and others.  

Dangerous territory.

Full of wishful visions and oft resultant disappointments.  

It is, after all, eminating from our words and actions.

The ultimate act of being.

Our putting it out there.

The holding back, for no other reason than our known limitations.

Our perceived 'lessness.'

The lack there of.

A "can't do" "can do" push and pull of daily life.

The choices presented in an ever flowing energy of this or that.

Should I or shouldn't I?

Universal doubt.

Internalizing the unspoken.

Stuffing the private demons that deafen our ability to hear another.

Blinding us from the steady flow of external stimulation that sustains us, preventing deeper despair and loneliness.

Climbing out from the depths of our self imposed limits.

Reaching out to the collective otherness.

Opening hearts and minds to the possibility of shared ideas and dreams.

Merging gifts and talents with a rising community spirit.

Risking our precious self containment for the bettering of the whole.

Ingrained, untrained, retrained, reframed for the higher good?

Putting ourselves in the fray of our lives and finding sensibility?

Making sense of it all but to whom?

Falling short of ourselves to please others who influence our lives and pave the ways we so eagerly seek?

Pulled back, held back; hesitating to move forward for fear of failure?

Marching to the beat of our internal voices, the inner battles, the turmoil to evolve and leave the skin of our youth behind.

Joining forces with humanity without labels, affiliations, prejudice, modeling false idols and spewing vitriolic messages that broaden our divides.

Reaching out without fear or judgment.

Opening our eyes to the possibility that we can only survive as a collective energy; a force with which to be reckoned.

A coming together for common purpose and positive ends.  

Seeing beyond the sockets in our own heads and allowing others to take our hands in solidarity.

A greater generosity that reaches into our hearts and not our pockets. 

Something much bigger than us, emboldening trust in one common goal: survival. 

No thank you, to "Big Brother," unless a blood relative who shares your desire to be a part of a whole that is self sustaining.

Strength in numbers, not a new concept and one which leaves room for endless possibilities for the good of the whole. 

Relinquishing ties that would further divide us as a nation, as a force with common goals and ideals that would ensure our survival as a nation. 

This is reality time, real time, here and now.  

We have to crawl outside of our layers of stubborn skin, worn out notions, dead end ideas, ideologies that bind us, suffocating our energy and preventing positive action as one.

Our time will come and go while we are left wondering why and how we got to this place.

Where did we go wrong?  

Don't even attempt to answer that... as history and man made dogma has poisoned us and will continue to proliferate the finger pointing that is killing us by the second. 

The time is now.

We can't get back the decades of mistakes, greed, political manipulation and the making of a selfish, materialistic and self-centered culture.

No do overs there.  

Time to pull the plug on regrets.  They won't ever go away.

Everything that comes out of our mouths; everything we put in to action, defines us.

We put all of this out into the universe, the ultimate hard drive with infinite memory that can never be erased. 

Let's not kid ourselves,  There are no easy answers for most and the possibilities can be daunting and without clear comprehension.

Perhaps it is a simplistic notion to think that we can reach beyond ourselves and our old ideas and affirmations.

We must own it now; whatever it was or is and move forward together.

We need to figure it out and fast.

Going it alone is no longer a viable option and we must band together; help one another.  

Know our neighbors, our teachers, our brothers and sisters, our chosen leaders.

We must find pride in ownership, not just for our individual riches, our cars, homes, jobs, et al...

We need to rebuild pride of ownership as a nation, a people, working together to ensure the survival of the whole.

Our life in America has become a huge Katrina in so many ways.  Where local and federal governments have failed us, we still have our collective whole to rally, rebuild, strengthen our resolve as a group.

Get it together!  Work together! Get a grip! 

Whatever divides us further should be avoided at all costs.  The cost of this is bitterly apparent and has become our collective debt for generations to come.

It has got to stop. 

Our future depends on it.