the wandering after

“Adrift and astray

we flail, we wait

for powers unknown

to determine our fate” ~ lm

“The Wandering After”

written and illustrated by lisa masters

Money had no value. Not safety, security, nor earthly desire could be acquired monetarily now. Hierarchy of any sort was a concept of the past, no one could be called upon for help of any kind after the wandering had begun. Status as a measure of importance, based on the glorification of beauty, wealth, lineage or the worship of idols now an obsolete notion.

It was at first as though we were hopelessly lost, doomed unto chaos. Once thrown into complete darkness there was a period of time where chaotic confusion had certainly reigned. Many found themselves traumatized by the lack of electronic connectivity, lack of comforts they relied so fully on, lack of ability to utilize natures offerings for survival. Some had ultimately taken their own lives in response to that loss, others simply wandered, perpetually, as though catatonic, in a state of apparent waiting...

perhaps waiting for a return to the way things used to be.

A solar flare, its aftermath immeasurable as yet, had engulfed the earth in an all encompassing storm, and when it did, the lights went out. When the lights went out, there were no phones or computers to cling to-few proved to be possessed of the resilience, fortitude, overall strength of character and spirit required to endure the wandering after.

Those of us who had wandered ultimately into an awakening, a sort of understanding and acceptance of this new world, we knew the truth. Truths can be difficult to accept, however once a truth is revealed it puts an end to lies and deception. We as had lived before the storm understood that it had been ourselves that had manifested our new reality. Our collective reliance upon the very technologies we now must live without had ironically shifted our nature from needing and creating relationships with each other, and the world around us into a state of perpetual isolation, loneliness and depression. We had manufactured our own demise through our distorted yearning for what we had thought to be bigger, faster, better...more.

During the initial wandering, so many of us simply walked alongside whomever we had reunited with along the way, family or friends. It was during this time through shared experience that we had begun to understand fully what had happened to the world we had known. There were no broadcasts to confirm our consensus, no authorities on the matter who could assure us of a joyful resolution. The storm had resulted from a flare which our sun had delivered unto us as a manifestation of our own collective wishes- a rise in heat, an energetic fire from within so many people left unmeasured and unhealed for years had unwittingly called upon the suns energy. We had become so unwaveringly self centered, silently emoting anger, fear, hatred and dissatisfaction that we projected that unto the sun, manifesting its flare in response.

It was understood that we had willed that which we had feared the most, the loss of our advances in technology and in automation, the loss of all that we had coveted as necessity.

Deities formerly idolized were now seen clearly to have been implements of control, as acts of betrayal by self-ordained conduits to unseen Gods. “Religion”, as a belief system had proven only to distract and confuse, force compliance to misguided superiority and incite the very hatred and violence now rejected among the people of the new world. “Faith” in the old world had been a catalyst toward hatred of the faith that others held dear, the fear instilled within organized religions had caused so many to become single minded, hateful of any beliefs they could not understand, that were not their own. The segregation amongst people had become not only based upon faith or geographic location but also on the fear that one or the other was right, and therefore the others must be wrong.

A reliance on the connectivity that had served only to isolate us had allowed people of all faiths, all geographic locations to goad and to instigate, to encourage these negative emotions to fester and insidioulsy become part of our daily thoughts, emotions and actions. We as a people had claimed an unprecedented level of enlightenment, however we had been wrong, we were indeed further from enlightenment than we had ever been. One faith now reigned, and that was the sensical faith in ourselves and in each other. Faith that we would all collectively operate from the standpoint of service unto, kindness towards, and understanding of each others strengths and limitations. We now had faith in the earth itself to provide and protect, faith that no one person or system had autonomy or authority over another and ultimate faith in the universe to unfailingly prove its omnipotence. We understood that it had been our former lack of these faithful understandings which had brought forth our suns fiery wrath, this truth put an end to all methods of escape, there was nothing now to blame and no where to run or hide. We all knew that this truth had been available to us in the former world, we had collectively disregarded all warnings.

For my personal wandering journey I had held onto one talisman from the old world, I use this to remind myself of the importance of remaining present in this world we found ourselves surviving in. On a long silver chain around my neck hung a small silver heart shaped locket my mother and father had given me many years ago-inside were their photos and an inscription on the back which I often looked back unto.

Personal opinion and judgment, approval or segregation of anyone, by anyone, were now historical concepts understood to have been the downfall of our former existence.

Ideas of self importance had manifested such chaotic repercussions before the lights went out that they were now replaced with ideations of only the importance of understanding, acceptance and service.

All that matters now is to be useful in the gathering and sharing of resources. We had found ourselves broken, traumatized and “lost” in equal measure, so to discuss it or relive experiences before the storm was considered unnecessary. Too much had happened, with too little explanation as to the how and the why. Our new level of understanding allowed us to rise above any desire to dominate another. The need to control others or shape reality, and the acceptance of it by the dominated, were now considered one of the fatal flaws of our former collective mentality.

Children born into this new world would know no such malignant thinking. Survivors simply had wandered through what we consider an absolute realignment of consciousness granting us the need for control over our thoughts. We accepted, forgave ourselves and others but did not need to express that, our beings exuded our oneness and openness to each other as surely as we could see their faces. As humans who still walked the earth became awakened to their collective significance it was solidarity in that primal state which would save them now .

Those of us left understood that nothing could be traded for security, food, shelter or superiority. The concept of value now lie in our oneness with each other and the world around us, in our ability to serve each other gratefully.

Often I wrap my hand tightly around my heart shaped locket, and I am revived of any anxiousness that wanders into my thoughts. Rejecting fear or loneliness in favour of hope, of kindness..

I read the inscription, and I know that which I had never fully understood until now-that which we as people before the wandering had been warned so many times...

It simply read “love is all we need”, and it was.