Conflicted Spirits: reframing our collective potential after pandemia

How cancel culture possessed the zeitgeist and why creativity is key for transformative change.

Many ghosts follow me around, and every year there are more. Some live in our home; they weren’t invited. Other spirits often come to visit; they are my ancestors, and they bring me joy. Some I have loved and know dearly, and forgotten histories haunt others.

Occasionally, one will give me a real fright; for me, those are the geists of the mind — for others, they are of the heart. On rare occasions, when the Levante wind blows, I’ll be going about my day, look up and suddenly realize a new spirit of the times has come along. A fleeting glimpse, goosebumps on a warm day or inspired voices from empty spaces is all it takes to distinguish the intuitive feel of a zeitgeist from that of any other vision. Perhaps it will stay for a week, a year, or two? It’s a moody, artistic creature, the minute you think you know its temperamental ways; you’ll turn around to find it gone.

A persistent sense of fear in isolation accompanied by unfinished business has been a prevailing mood for many throughout the pandemia. With the risk factor of financial insecurity, unemployment, and fear rising and protective factors such as social…