By Mark Anthony King “Is it just me, or has 2020 been like watching a marathon of bad horror movies with D-list actors, psychopathic writers, and drunk directors?” Most of us grew up in a world that is tremendously different from the one we are currently living in. A world where words like “Pandemic”, “Social Distancing”, “Masks”, “Global Travel Ban”, “Enforced Curfew”, and “Lockdown” all have negative connotations. And more often than not, remind us of how eerily familiar and oddly prophetic the 90s film Outbreak is. Fast forward 30 years, and times are incredibly different. So different in fact, that these very words now trigger confusing, simultaneous feelings of oppression and a superficial sense of safety. So how different is 2021 compared to the years that preceded it? Not too long ago, a public sneeze was met with “bless you”. Now, that sneeze elicits panic. This is unfortunate because prior to the pandemic, there was this gentle awakening starting to occur, where we began to truly recognize that we are all one. We were better, we were evolving, and we were rediscovering magnificent, wondrous, beneficial truths long forgotten. Finally, there was a death of ego and narcissism, followed by a long-awaited rebirth of what was beginning to look like genuine love and altruism. Humanity was back on track. Then Covid-19 sent shockwaves around the globe that most of us weren’t physically, emotionally, mentally, financially, or spiritually prepared to handle. Have things reached an irreversible level of wrong; THIS concept of humanity’s “new normal”? Despite the evidence that easily leads us to a logical and resounding “Yes!”, the feeling of HOPE suggests otherwise. Things a lot of us took for granted – until we found ourselves in the middle of social distancing and then quarantine –...... Read more on Full Issue!