Going through life with your nose pressed against the glass might be one way to see the world, and it might even be safe, but how does it differ from watching life unfold on a TV screen? 

Both give you a buffer zone between you and the world’s events.    Or maybe looking through the window brings the world closer to you. 

 “Objects appearing in the mirror may be closer than you think.”  

Consider the caregiver’s challenge in Netflix’s original film “The Fundamentals of Caring,” (based on the novel The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving by Jonathan Evison). He urges his charge to step out and engage with a hitchhiking woman.   Suppose he doesn’t and instead watches from the safety of the window. In that case, it’s akin to passive TV viewing, not active participation in life. 

Life in the 21st century was becoming one giant television screen—a computer monitor. Whether Americans wanted to admit it or not, they were afraid to move beyond the window or screen following the 9/11 tragedy.

And then it happened. In 2014, people began to leave the safety of their homes and take to the streets in protest. The rallying cry was injustice, and it was 13 years overdue.  

Every year after that, the marches attract increasing crowds. Soon, everyone will be in the streets, and the only way to control the masses will be to scare them again.

Gil Scott Heron sang, “The Revolution will not be Televised.” Forty-seven years later, his prophetic vision is not one bit hazy. 

“The revolution will not be televised; it’s live.” 

No one’s home to watch it. They’re in the streets.