The Great Realisation

 

I stumbled across the"The Great Realisation" video on Social Media and it left me thinking about the state that we're in, how it's affected my life and family, and what the future holds. Give it a watch and see what thoughts it generates for you.

According to site The National - Arts + Entertainment,
"When Tomos Roberts, a spoken word poet from London, wrote The Great Realisation and posted it in video form on social media, he didn't think it would go viral. Nor did he imagine American actor Jake Gyllenhaal would approach him to potentially turn the poem into a book. The work, which reimagines our post-pandemic world, is written in the form of a bed-time story that is being read to a child. Filmed at home with his younger brother and sister, the video has been viewed more than 18 million times across YouTube, Facebook and Instagram since it was posted last week."

"I was trying to think of any good that I could even fictitiously create from this situation."

Tomos Roberts

A Kiwi-born London resident, the transplanted Roberts is Welsh by lineage, making for a truly global hodgepodge of backgrounds. He's not looking for a pat on the back for his search for optimism during these trying times, but feels strongly that there is always "a silver lining" pointing out that humans have endured many dark times in the past, each time emerging with new knowledge, understanding and insight. During the isolation, he has been able to get reacquainted with his younger siblings Cai and Sara. It is Cai that is the young child in the video. A testament to its virility, the video has spurred interest to turn it into a children's book, although I would personally endorse it being aimed at all ages, considering the lessons to be learned from its message.

Roberts writes his poetry under the moniker of Probably Tom Foolery and is a movie maker by trade, even producing his own YouTube channel. According to articles I found, and in an intriguing plot twist, Roberts' parents and older sister are in the NHS, doing their part to help Britain handle the Covid19 crisis. I, for one, will be visiting Roberts' YouTube channel every now and again, since it turns that the next Probably Tom Foolery piece called "A Tale of Two Mindsets" about the constant battle between optimism and pessimism, is expected to be out soon.

As always, I cast an inquisitive eye on reports of wondrous things purported via Social Media, but if the stories of ocean life swimming the Venice canals, the crystal clear satellite images of previously smog-filled cities, or the ever so slight drops in atmospheric CO2 are as real as reported, our "silver lining" could include inclinations toward some significant alterations to our new normal, when ever that happens, just like Roberts proposes in his poem.

I can confidently share that Joyce and I will be continuing with some of the lessons we have learned throughout this time, not the least of which is structured daily activity, increased personal growth via writing and reading, and more attention to family and the ties that bind us.

I can only pray that everyone is able to find some good amidst the trials and tribulations of this pandemic.