The World I Dream of Living in
A few weeks ago, I wrote a piece under my ‘Noted!’ segment titled “Survival of the Joyful: Rest, Resistance, and Recharging the Fight” in which I mentioned an assignment I was given in college to write about my dream world. Well, I was scouring my Google Drive this week and came across that very assignment! I’ve decided to share it this week because it still rings true to my desires for a better world. I’ve categorized this article under “Beth’s Intentions” because that is exactly what this piece is: my intentions of seeing a better world before I make my exit. I hope you’ll resonate with this manifestation, enjoy! (Disclaimer: this was written in 2021)
A day in the life of the world I wish to live in would start out by not having to wake up any earlier than 9:00 AM for work or school because America finally realized that people need an adequate amount of sleep to do more productive work. On top of that, the work/school week would only be four days; multiple countries in Europe have already adapted to this, as they’ve realized there is more to life than work. I would get out of bed and put on whatever clothes, makeup, and accessories I wanted because I would no longer have to worry about being catcalled on my walk to get coffee. In my ideal world, that Dunkin’ coffee would taste the same every day. I would see people walking, taking public transportation, or driving electric cars to work to be more conscious of the environment, and those electric cars would be more accessible to people of all incomes. Along with that, the large corporations that contribute the most to killing the environment would finally acknowledge it and work on finding new ways to help combat climate change.
On my walk or drive to work/school, I would notice more thriving small businesses. I would choose to go to locally-owned coffee shops, grocery stores, pharmacies, and so on out of convenience, whereas now, living in the suburbs, I have to drive a lot farther to find locally owned businesses, as big corporations dominate here. When getting to work/school, there would be noticeable diversity within the community there, people from all different backgrounds, religions, cultures, races, sexualities, genders, ages, and so on, to create a more accepting school/workplace. People would enjoy talking about their differences, learning from each other, and appreciating each other’s backgrounds, as well as utilizing their different experiences to create solutions and more understanding for each other and society as a whole. We would be able to reflect on the past with each other from a place of respect, compassion, responsibility, and appreciation for everyone else’s unique experiences. Conversations would come from a place of wanting to educate ourselves, with no intentions to fight whatever we are being told, especially when it comes to someone else’s life experiences and generational traumas. With that, when being called out for our mistakes or biases, we would accept it and choose to learn from it, not resorting to defensive tactics, one being white fragility.
Obviously, there would be no violence, hatred, prejudice, or bigotry towards any community or person in my perfect world, but I think in order to get to this perfect world, it’s important to note that there would have to be many discussions regarding those topics. In a perfect world, those conversations would go over well and everyone in them would come from a place of wanting to be educated and find solutions; I feel like this is important to acknowledge because right now I don’t think that is the case for a lot of people who have had these conversations, especially with their friends and family.
In my ideal world, when I got home from work/school, I would turn on the television to find that more shows and movies include characters representative of communities other than cisgender white people, especially on children’s shows. On social media, there would be an option to display and see the number of likes on your posts and others, as for some people, those comparisons can be detrimental to their mental health, and cyberbullying would be a thing of the past. The stigmatization of and capitalization on mental health issues would cease to exist, as people would be able to put more of a priority on their mental health, as they would be spending less time on work and school, and it would be more widely accepted and affordable to seek help. When I turn on the news, I don’t see violence towards any community or country; instead, I see people helping each other and working to create even more change in order to support each other.
After checking the news, I would go to the gym without the concern of checking my surroundings for anyone taking pictures of, staring at, or following me. I would walk to my car without needing to have my keys in between my knuckles, check underneath my car, or have my earbuds in with no music playing.
The representatives of our states and countries would be more diverse, therefore a more accurate representation of our country and its values. All communities would have easier access to jobs, healthcare, sustainable and healthy foods, and homes because politicians would spend more money on the people in our country who need aid than on the hypothetical wars we might have to go to. On the topic of war, the United States would stay out of countries in the Middle East where they have no business being in on claims of human rights because, honestly, no one actually believes that. The government would adequately tax the 1% and put that money towards working to combat climate change, paying teachers what they deserve, and, as previously mentioned, working to improve communities with little to no government funding and resources. At the end of the day, in my ideal world, I would go to sleep at night knowing that I, along with everyone else, would be safe mentally, emotionally, financially, and physically the next day and every day after that.
This is, without a doubt, one of my favorite assignments from college because it is one rooted in hope, something we truly need right now. I encourage you all to daydream and journal about your perfect world, and I would love to hear about those dreams. Please never hesitate to reach out to me on Instagram via @bits.and.beths.
Write you soon!
Beth
