Assembly Required
November 2, 2020 / Iam Saums

“Until we discover who we are, we can never be who we need.”

Prelude to a Vision:

After 49 years on this earth, 25 I consider intentionally conscious, I felt inspired to envision what I would express to all the “usual suspects” of the assembly in a State of the Union scenario. Fully understanding the classist, elitist, superiority filters to which most of them desperately cling, my expectations, though justified, are as low as their apparent ethics, impartiality and unconditional service to the people they pledge to represent. Perhaps it is the inner child in me who looks beyond the impossibility of transforming the self-righteous instincts, thoughts and ideologies of the representatives we elect. If anything, I am sure the following address will be therapeutic in the least. Enjoy!

Members of Congress and Senate, Executive, Judicial and Legislative Branches, State and Local Representatives, honored guests of this assembly and most importantly fellow citizens. I would first like to express my appreciation and gratitude for the opportunity to observe how things are and share a vision of how things can and in time will be. I am aware of the gravity or this great privilege and the liberty I choose to express in these moments with each of you.

The intention of this address is not to dictate with unreasonable expectation, rather to share the empowerment and inspiration of what is possible considering the dire circumstances of our time. Though our beliefs, ideologies, neighborhoods, bank accounts, positions and social standings may be diverse, it is important to acknowledge the powerful similarities of our humanity.

At any moment in our life we face multiple opportunities and outcomes granting us the ability to choose to make a difference in our lives and those of others. We have all been conditioned through institutions of education, religion, heredity, reality and society. Though all of these may offer their own benefit, they do not define who we are or who we may become.

Becoming who we are meant to be is a personal path. One rife with vital challenges through which we all must navigate to establish our unique way of being. It is only as difficult as we choose to make it. And now, we are all making it nearly impossible for future generations to survive let alone thrive.

We may believe we are not a part of the existing problems causing the evident obstacles of crime, disease, hate, illness, poverty, social inequality, injustice and unrest, the genocide of cultures, the annihilation of nature and the exploitation and manipulation of humanity.

We are.

We may believe we are making a great contribution to the world as we harbor selfish lifestyles of greed, gossip, self-righteousness and vanity.

We aren’t.

We may believe the society we enable with our participation won’t devolve into further decline, destruction and mayhem.

It will.

We may believe our intelligence, faith, heredity and the personal empires we build will somehow transform the world.

They won’t.

We may believe the solutions to society’s greatest problems we have invented will eventually correct humanity’s course.

They won’t.

We may even believe we can place the weight of the world’s future upon those who have not yet been born.

We can’t.

Our daily reality is rife with busy-ness; distraction, diversion, manipulation and perversion that give us little to no time to live, let alone breathe. I believe life is not a battle, rather an experience to enrich our soul, expand our hearts, inspire our minds and empower our instincts. Yet our daily social structures are honed upon the common vicious cycles of acquiescence, amusement, criticism, consumption, debate, evasion and judgement.

A sociopath is one with a personality disorder manifesting itself in extreme antisocial attitudes and behavior and a lack of conscience, otherwise termed as a maniac, psychotic, lunatic, you get the picture. It is my belief that we are a desensitized, self-centered, sociopathic society. What is most terrifying about this observation is most are either oblivious to the notion or would flat out deny it given our current climate.

The callous society we all enable with our participation has become a great beast fed by our addictions, anxieties, confusion, emptiness, fears, oblivion and rivalry. Whatever position of power we may hold within it does not diminish the truth that we all fall victim to its deceptive seductions. In this vast sea of humanity, there is always a bigger fish that may challenge our belief, ideology, understanding and truth.

There are times when we find agreement with others. There is a vital balance between establishing and sustaining relations and empowering and evolving our truth. Acknowledging and accepting the fundamental diversities that exist between us allows us to encourage others as well as ourselves. Supporting others in envisioning and manifesting their identity and purpose inspires us to express our own.

Democracy is defined as “an assembly in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections.” As I gaze around this room, I see congress people, senators, justices and executives, yet I do not see the people who elected each of you into these positions. I do not hear the visions, dreams, passions and needs of the people. Their voices are silent in this historic hall of democracy.

Equality is abolished by social evasion. Justice is blinded by judicial jargon. Liberty is shackled by contemporary law. Freedom is pawned for patriotic fantasy. War is waged for control and greed. Unity is sacrificed on the altar of conditioned social division. Consciousness is deliberately debunked as conspiracy. Health and wellbeing are forfeit for profit. And goodwill is criminalized to desensitize and segregate.

This is not a society we would be a part of even our nightmares. This is not a reality we would have accepted when we were young and evolving, when making a difference still meant something. Ours is not a life we would have chosen to live with our truest self. This is not a world we would have committed to with our soul, heart, mind and person for the benefit of all.

The definition of insanity is “doing the same things and being the same person over and over again expecting different outcomes.” Yet, we continue to gravitate into the social malaises of compliance, denial, desperation, indifference and futility. All the while presenting an inauthentic brave face to covet our egos, fears, insecurities, malevolence and above all truth. Even at the cost of our lives.

All is not lost. There is still time to awaken to the stark realities we have enabled. There is still time to pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off. There is still time to accept the opportunity that has always been there for each of us since the moment we were born. There is still time to rise to the occasion of our personal vision, mission and purpose. Both the creation of our own and the empowerment of others.

It begins by letting go. Of everything and everyone that and who no longer empower or inspire us. It begins by taking a breath and encouraging ourselves to be present in the present to the best of our ability. It begins by being with the silence that comes and extending that into our listening of others, especially if they do not share our beliefs, ideology, understanding and truth. It begins by being the greatest expression of a human being.

No matter what may come, good, bad or indifferent, it is not only our responsibility, yet our opportunity to personally participate in the ever evolving expression of human consciousness, equality, freedom, health, justice, liberty and unity for all. Only we can be all we are destined. Only we can express all that empowers us. Only we can cause the difference we inspire. Only we can transform our life and in so being, society, reality and the world.

It is with the greatest appreciation I thank you for your interest, listening and presence all of you have given as I have shared my vision of what is and what is possible in the days to come. I earnestly believe and have faith in the vision and spirit of amity, democracy, purpose, realization and unity. And until my final breath it is my intention to become who I am to make a difference for one and all.

Thank you!