Quo Vadis, Hominum?
And I sure do hope it's gonna be nice when we get there
Whether you think you have stumbled onto my Substack by invitation, purpose, accident, mistake, or not, you’re right. And since you’re here, allow me an introduction. My name is Tonika. I believe myself to be a unique piece of a fantastically complex puzzle, among a vastness of sentient beings who, in turn, are their own unique pieces of said puzzle. We are a Mandelbrot Fractal. An MF. Welcome, MFers.
Whew, now that we got that out of the way, it’s only fair that I tell you why I think I’m here. If it resonates with you, do tell me why you are here, but I suspect if I haven't lost you after MFrs, our vibes are somewhat aligned.
We are experiencing life at an unprecedented moment of conscious human evolution. For long periods of time, humans hardly got to witness progress and change in their own lifetime, and look at us now: exponential changes are occurring and accumulating towards an apex in front of our very eyes. We will enter the next phase of humanity in this lifetime, brother and sisters, no doubt about that. We each play a part. Me, I’m searching for what needs to be expressed. I’m searching for my voice which is the instrument the universe plays through me. What do I, the person I understand myself to be, have to share with you, those who know me, those who think you know me, and those who don’t. It’s gotta be something because here I am. Taking a step outside of my comfort zone, where, they tell me, the magic happens. And I am here looking for the authentic experience; for the strip away of pretense and the emergence of genuine interactions; for the pure joy of living. To merge of all the faces that The Beatles tell me I keep in a jar by the door, away from the labels that society, and myself, have adhesed on my forehead like the stickers on the canned preserves my mother makes in the wintertime, from all kinds of produce, neatly stacked on the second to last shelf, in the pantry.
So, where are we? Are we on the precipice of self-destruction? Are we staring down our own demise with our lemme-put-on-my-surprise-face expression, asking “How did we get here?” Or are we in the middle of the greatest and most epic love story humanity is about to endure, emerging more loving, more just, more kind, more human? Is this our test? Has humanity been here before? Are we here, yet again? Change. Or die? I think so. There is no other explanation for the feeling of impending doom anxiety, incessant media fear porn, dehumanization of the other, climate anomalies, civil unrest, economic disaster, the scuttling in the walls of the deep chasms of globalitarianism where rats are fighting for the last piece of cheese. How do we find hope? How do we persevere? How are we to even recognize the beauty of being human long enough to be able to celebrate it; long enough, to boost that signal and lift up those who touch the sublime and bless us with that gift of humanity, to make us fall in love with ourselves all over again?
Because no matter where you are, you are here.
Everything you have done in your life has led you to and prepared you for this moment in time. What you do with that is your journey; your perfectly unique piece of the puzzle.
For me, where I come from and what I’ve done has equipped me with a beautiful iridescent lens which on any given day changes hue in the sunlight. And so I’ve begun shifting my energy towards serving this transition of our species by starting a Substack where I muse about my observations, tease out current alternative paradigms, spotlight others who are already living in an improved reality, encourage everyone to find the gift they are here to impart and have unapologetic fun while doing it. As far as my personal goals, I hope to exit the current fiat financial system, enter the web3 as gracefully as I can, and use art and experiences to help me and my family thrive through a gift economy model.
The tidal wave of profound change is upon us- we have the power to jump on the surfboard and navigate, flounder around hanging onto any floatation device in our sight, or be swept under the foam.
Where to go from here? Let’s let providence answer that question. For now let’s stay together, brothers and sisters, I’m pretty optimistic it’ll be rather nice when we get there.
