Captain's Log, Stardate Covid 19. Parallel Universe encountered.

CAPTAIN KIRK:

"Crew, the time continuum has been disrupted, creating a new temporal event sequence resulting in this alternate reality.  Prepare for paradigm shift - unless - we can get back to the point before it skewed into the alternate year 2020.  Mr. Sulu, entangle those two wormholes, and set the navigation coordinates for May 2019.  Course trajectory:  Australia wildfires... then Wuhan China." 

I imagine Captain Kirk was trained at Starfleet Academy for any emergency, and probably knew instinctively how to navigate through a parallel universe.  No doubt, he aced Time Travel 101.  He could have figured out a way to go back to 2019, and fix everything without violating the Prime Directive, don't you think?  

As captains of our own individual ships... we may not feel as powerful as Kirk.  We've been red-pilled, unplugged, and thrust into an anti-matter duplicate alien world.  All the fiction sci-fi movies ever made now seem like documentaries. Our comfortable mundane lives have become the set on a Hollywood back lot, making us wonder how we got here.  Did we miss something?  Maybe the Men in Black agents neuralized us all with their flashy top secret device. 😎 

But let's not forget, we humans are resilient, inventive, and more powerful than we realize.

We've all had half a year to speculate how we stumbled into this 'alternate reality,' and before we set course for the second half, let's review the multitude of changes each month brought since this iconic year began...

January.  Tensions with Iran... Britain left the EU... Donald Trump was impeached (I almost forgot!) and a tragic helicopter crash killed Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna... we hear the first whispers of a virus spreading in China.  

February. Trump was not indicted (as everyone expected)... Iowa caucuses... docked cruise ships with passengers quarantined... Trump holds first news conference on the "novel Coronavirus" outbreak, making it a household word... panic buying and shortages of toilet paper and hand sanitizers. 

March.  The sobering reality of the pandemic swelled like a giant tidal wave around the world, bringing us all into a silent shock... deserted cities... businesses shut down... Biden and Sanders debate with no live audience, greeting with an elbow bump, something that would soon be replaced with a 6-foot-apart rule... the NYSE records their worst day since 1987... Olympics and sports events are cancelled or postponed... video conferencing takes off... New York looks like a war zone. 

April.  Widespread restrictions, social distancing and face masks are the new normal... stimulus checks are sent out... people are conflicted between losing their freedom to come and go as they please, and the stay-at-home orders implemented to flatten the curve.

May.  Racial unrest escalates in Georgia (Ahmaud Arbery) and Minnesota (George Floyd)... once abandoned streets are filled with riots and protests... murder hornets appear from Japan, in Washington state... by the end of May, the US recorded its 100,000th death from Covid... and a nice distraction: Space-X launches a rocket to the Int'l Space Station.

June.  Graduations are cancelled and some restrictions lifted (phase 1) which later proved premature... Black Lives Matter ripples around the world... statues are torn down... another fatal shooting in Atlanta... passion for social justice... police reform and possible defunding... Trump is criticized for holding a campaign rally in Tulsa, his first since the outbreak.

Now it's July 2020 and who knows what the rest of the year will bring.  All we know for sure is that there will be an election, and either Trump or Biden will be President for the next four years.  This hasn't been a typical election year, to say the least.

The big question we're all asking is, "who's in control of everything we see happening, and how much power do each of us have to create positive change?"

Perhaps 2020 can still be "the year of clarity" as we put things in perspective - like the reason behind the virus - and many previous outbreaks... Ebola, SARS, Swine flu, bird flu... interesting that they all originated with animals.  Is filthy and cruel animal agriculture to blame?  All zoonotic diseases spread in one of five ways:  through the air, through an insect bite (tick/mosquito) through close contact with an infected animal, something the animal touched, or eating contaminated meat.  

As all of us observe the unrest around the world, and feel vulnerable and insecure about the future, I feel there is one thing we CAN control.  In fact, it's our super power.  To decide what we eat, and what we won't eat, to give our immune system the best fuel to fight off disease.  Many doctors agree, the best diet is plant-based.  Diabetes, liver disease, heart diseases and colon cancer are all linked to eating meat.  Did you know the strongest and the largest animals on earth all thrive on plants?  (Eat your spinach and your peas!)

But it's not just a good thing for our individual health, it's a good thing for the environment too.  The main cause of climate change is animal agriculture.  If factory farms could evolve to plant-based farms, CO2 and methane emissions would decrease, along with water usage.  The current system is inefficient because animals consume more food than they produce.  We are siphoning plant protein through the bodies of dead animals!  If we switch to a more sustainable food system, we help ourselves, farmed animals, wildlife, and the world.  Truly.  

The Enterprise was under the command of Captain Kirk.  Our spaceship Earth is under the command of each of us.  What we decide to eat determines her future.  Can we let go of what no longer serves us, without sacrificing the things we love?  I know we can.  Because it isn't about giving something up.  It's about giving something greater, for the good of all; restoring the balance to Mother Earth.  We've already gone through the scary and difficult part of being shoved out of our comfort zone.  The rest is easy.  

I wrote a blog entry on "Plate Awakening" if you want to learn more about how our diets affect our health and the climate!  Or even better, watch the documentaries "Gamechangers," "What the Health," "Cowspiracy" or "Forks Over Knives."  

😆  

I wish everyone a safe and healthy rest of the year.  I hope the remaining months can be filled with some positive highlights that offer hope, empowerment, justice and peace of mind. To all who suffered loss, my utmost compassion and sympathy.  And to all who inhabit the earth, my beloved kindred family in every country... be strong, be healthy, focus on the positives, God bless us all, bear hugs and Aloha Love. 💕