Building the Civilization We Truly Want
A letter about freedom, trust, and what’s possible beyond fear.
Dear friends,
There is something simple, yet life-changing, I want to share with you. I don’t know if it will resonate the same way for you, but I hope you’ll read on with an open heart.
Fear: The Invisible Force Limiting Us
Over the years, one thing has become clear to me: fear is the reason we are unable to solve our problems.
We all feel it; we all see it. Many of us resist it. Or try to ignore it. And this stops us from moving forward. How can we convince an entire civilization to remove the “tinted glasses” they don’t know they are wearing? How to convince you that fear is limiting your capacity to perceive, think, and decide?
Let me try to explain. Please stay with me.
How Fear Shapes Our Lives
Can you recall a time when you got really afraid? Can you remember how your perception sharpened? Did you have the urge to defend yourself?
Fear shapes our perception of reality. It shapes our responses and actions. Its purpose is to protect us. But this means it can hide things we do not want to see.
When fear kicks in, it shapes our thoughts to produce seemingly rational explanations; it infiltrates our thoughts. These explanations support fear’s prime directive: avoid risk, avoid change, find safety.
Fear runs through the DNA of our civilization. It shapes our systems and institutions. If you think about it, our systems and institutions were created to protect us, to increase our chances of avoiding pain, suffering, and death.
Our ancestors worked hard to keep our family safe from scarcity and the threats they faced. They did this for us. They taught us this to help us survive, and we are survivors.
The Opportunity of Our Times
Today, our material progress has created abundance on a global level as never before. We do not need to see others as a threat anymore. We can solve most of our existential problems if we put our minds to it.
Instead, we keep making the same mistakes: wars and violence, economic injustice, environmental damage, corruption, inequality, intolerance.
We polarize our opinions, creating “others” to fight against, others to fear. Collectively we have become paralyzed by fear.
But the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us that radical change is possible. We managed to stop traffic and businesses in a matter of days, in unprecedented ways. This time our fear of the virus was greater than our fear of hurting the economy.
Do we need to be terrified to act? Or is there another way?
We need to acknowledge that our individual and collective fears are limiting our power to act. We need to know we are wearing old tinted glasses, which have now lost their original function.
A New Civilization Rooted in Trust
Today is the right day to start. The new civilization we are building doesn’t support a standardized, mass-produced citizen. It supports individuality, tolerance, inclusion, interdependence, equality of opportunity for every human being. It provides the safety we need to live without fear.
Can you remember your first love? Did you feel like time stopped? As if you were in a bubble, where you and your loved one were the only ones that mattered?
Yes, that’s the answer to our prayers and wishes: a more just world, with more peace and less suffering. With less fear, we make space for more freedom, more peace, more love.
Change happens even if we resist it. Sooner or later, the dam fails, and the water flows.
Transcending Fear, Together
Let’s live with the freedom that comes when we no longer fear. Let’s rebuild the systems that support our communities and nations to support life.
Fear turns us against each other. Love brings us back into community.
We can all be equally satisfied, protected, and nurtured.
Fear paralyzes us when we most need to act. Let’s build trust in each other, in the abundance of life. Let’s reveal the best version of ourselves by transcending fear.
Do you feel anything like this too?
Can you step outside fear and into trust?
Will you join me in building this new civilization?
Credits
This article was first published in September 30, 2020. For this version it has been lightly edited.
Written by
Edited and embellished by
Designed and illustrated by
I hope this letter brings you a sense of hope, that there is something we can all begin doing to become freer. It begins with seeing our fears, understanding how they shape us, and learning to gently deconstruct them. If this speaks to you, please share it. Make it yours. Pass it on to someone who might find it meaningful.
Love,
Jose.
A powerful reminder, a call for rebuilding intentionally. Loved this!
This part struck a deep chord: “Let’s live with the freedom that comes when we no longer fear.”
So much of what holds us back as individuals and as societies is rooted in fear: of change, of loss, of the unknown. But what if we built from a place of courage instead? What if the systems we created were rooted in care, in truth, in life-giving values?
Thank you for this reminder. Rebuilding begins with imagining, and imagining begins when we loosen fear’s grip.