Empowered Lorrie Morales

SeniorsCorner

Empowered

with LORRIE MORALES

Lorrie Morales

As the old version of years gone by slowly leaks out, releasing past prejudices and saying goodbye to old beliefs, in an effort to make things new, we have to consider the hope of better days ahead. What are we going to do to celebrate change, circumstances or differences?

Each year, I focus on one word that will direct my days. In the past, I have embodied Believe, Bloom and Soar, but 2022 is a much stronger word than the previous direction. This year, it is Empowered. The fact that the word takes on two separate meanings is relevant for me. First of all, empowerment is when a person gives someone the authority or power to do something. Empowerment also means, to make stronger, more confident especially in controlling one’s life and claiming one’s rights. What a fitting word for our times!

Life has been inconsistent, unpredictable and divided to many of us these past almost two years. We are left bewildered at the treatment of our differences, our beliefs, our identities and yet, each of us has the same humanness – experiences, trials, problems and struggles. Why do we remain separated because of our differences – of opinion, lifestyles and even age or gender? Perhaps because we are biased. We take the disproportionate idea of being in favour of or against something, whether it is innate or learned, and we become prejudicial, unfair and often close-minded in our thoughts.

How can we break the bias? By thinking differently about our perception or treatment of others, we have opportunities to change our biases.

I am the frost on the window with silver hair; the cry of a lone wolf in the wilderness roaming the forest path alone; the creak of the rustic rocking chair as I slowly ease my body to an upright standing position on sometimes shaky legs. Let us honour ageing by comforting the lonely, visiting the elderly, assisting the seniors and embracing women of all colour with our diverse cultural and unique femininity.

I am the faded black and white photo tucked into the page of a worn, frayed book left on the shelf to be remembered for tomorrow. I am the filled journal pages of detailed, descriptive narratives and letters splayed across the lined paper leaving words of wisdom for future generations to read and reflect upon. Let us acknowledge the outcasts, the hurting, the marginalized, the suffering by hearing their stories, sharing our lives with them today and working on the mental health of those who need help.

I am the echoing laughter and song of a thousand voices gathered together to celebrate differences. I am the bouquet of flowers leaving a fragrance of acceptance, knowledge and peace in a world fraught with division and bias. Our uniqueness is what makes us beautiful. It’s a reason to celebrate! After all, “One way or another, we are all biased, but still, we have the modern cortical capacity to choose whether or not to let the harmful biases dictate our behaviour.” Abhijit Naskar