Virgo season is upon us, and with it my mind has turned to what could be. I’ve been talking to friends about hopes and what I want for the future.

The future is an interesting topic. We don’t really have one, not really. Or rather, we have something, but it’s shrouded in fears and confusion. We meaning millenials and gen Z folks, those of us raised on the belief in a system that turned out to be a lie. There’s no money, no jobs, no real foundation to build something akin to the suburban house and the two and a half dogs or what have you.

So. What next? I think there’s a trend among folks like me towards collectivist thinking. I think there’s a desire to build something that’s based not on the nuclear family with the strong solo couple supporting their children. There’s a desire for community, to make a place where we can support each other.

Yes, I know. I’m hardly the first queer to dream of communes. It’s almost a stereotype at this point.

With that said, I think there’s a fundamental desire there for escapism. Escape from a system rigged against us, refuge from a world that means us indifference if not ill will. There’s a sense of being trapped, of forcing yourself to work a job forty plus hours a week till the some nebulous future that may never arrive, all for no reason except there’s little alternative.

I have a lot of baggage when it comes to my Jewish heritage. One aspect I do recall though is the idea of communal support. There were people that did things that the community valued. Cantors, people that studied the bible all day, rabbis. In the wider free market, they would not be valued at all. And yet, their community supported them. Paid them, respected them.

I wonder. Can we do the same? Can we find things we value, support the discarded things by this system we’re trapped in? Art. Rebellion. Beauty. Sex. Change. Spirituality. Care.

I dream of a place, sometimes. A colorful crack in the grey concrete of this city, where you can be yourself. A spot where you can escape for a time and do things that sustain you for people you care about. Who understands.

I hope I can find or build this place someday. I hope I can make this future real. Because I’m not sure I have any other future left.