Struggle alone. Struggle together.

"A rhizome may be broken, shattered at a given spot, but it will start up again on one of its old lines, or on new lines." 

-A Thousand Plateaus, Deleuze and Guattari

No matter what the circumstances are, no matter what you are facing, no matter how difficult of a situation you are in, we all can struggle together. Because when we are together, evry'ting seem easier, don'it? We may be broken, we may be shattered, but we may also learn from it and start over; start from a tattered and old path or make our own new path. The choice is yours. Whether Bob Marley's words give us the courage to "dry our tears", or we muster up the courage on our own, but it is courage; and ain't it all the same after all? Don't think you are atit' alone, you are never alone. But if we are all alone, doesn't that mean we are all together too?

"Me only have one ambition, y'know. I only have one thing I really like to see happen. I like to see mankind live together - black, white, Chinese, everyone - that's all." -Bob Marley

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"Life is one big road with lots of signs. So when you riding through the ruts, don't complicate your mind. Flee from hate, mischief and jealousy. Don't bury your thoughts, put your vision to reality. Wake Up and Live!" -Bob Marley

We, ah yes that's the word of unity, we all come together. We all come together and say:

I will struggle, fight, and win.

Childhood Serenity

When I was 12, My family and I went on a cruise to the Virgin Islands, as we often did because my grandfather worked aboard a ship and that was our only way of seeing him. We all got off that day to explore the magnificent island of St. Thomas and spend the day on the beach side. I asked my mother for money to buy myself a soda (back in the days when the US dollar actually had value) and she gave me 50 cents and said be careful and come straight back. I ran over to the nearest hole-in-the-wall shop, but stopped abruptly at the side of a young native woman with the old style Coke bottle. I asked if I could have one of those. And she looked at me with smiling eyes and said, "Here child, for you it's free." I looked at her with a puzzling look and she ended by saying,

"Sweetie, ev'rybody happier with a Coke. Have a happy day babygirl." 

I grew up in a small town, with a middle class family. I loved my family, my friends, my childhood. They gave me what I needed but rarely what I wanted. Knowing the meaning of money is hard to grasp as a child but I am thankful now that they showed me that.

My parents and I were very close. Weekends were the best moments of my childhood, because I spent it with them. We would insert our favorite Bob Marley CD, turn it up, and crack open a nice cold Coca-Cola. We would move the table over to the side in the living room and dance and dance. Until we were so tired and crashed from our music and Coca-Cola high.

"Ev'rybody happier with a Coke."

I am comforted by the memories I've had while opening another Coke, at another place, at another time.