ATo imagine nothing as impossible is not quite the same as experiencing this nothingness. Think about it: we imagined a strike was not impossible, but after November 5^th, 2008, our experience of the impossible possible has far exceeded our expectations. Confused? Ok. Step into the world of my mind where the time is the third month into the strike.

We are into the New Year. We have yet to break free from this reality and though we do hope to make a move soon, the possible directions that we move to from here have opened up a Pandora’s Box of possibilities. If and when the strike ends, we could be taken down the road of one or many possibilities: nothing is impossible and we are currently bracing ourselves, yet again, for the impossible possible. Thus I ask, “ Do we really desire to exist where impossible is nothing?”

To question impossibility, we need to consider what is possible. If we consider the strike alone, we will run out of time in considering the possibilities. Perhaps the only impossible phenomenon, at this time, appears to be a settlement. Now, since there are a number of possibilities that could shape the destiny of our predicament, we realize that there is no element of certainty to our lives. Most of the possibilities can be problematized at any instance and this, in turn, feeds more possibilities : we could be back in class sometime soon, we could bid adieu to the semester or we could be back tomorrow. The possibilities are endless and as such this leads us to admit that impossible is nothing. From this alone, I wonder over our thoughts towards impossibility. Without any certainty, we have no assurance. Do we, still, really desire to exist where impossible is nothing? Do we want to demand the impossible?

By the light of the strike, I answer in the affirmative.

The uncertainty of these possibilities is stabbing me in the open, but I am beginning to see that the power to inflict such a situation is nestled in the homes of a few. As such, they are able to conduct themselves through firing off possibilities. At this point, I feel as though I am a victim of this power struggle and as York U’s admin encounters the CUPE 3903, the possibilities that attack me are wearing me down. However, I still do desire to exist where impossible is nothing, a desire that I feel can be justified once I gain, for myself, the power to define possibilities. As York U puts it, the power to redefine the possible. Or, to be more precise, as CUPE 3903 puts it, demand the impossible.

In wishing to see impossible as nothing, I believe that I am willing to hold myself accountable to action in any given situation. At the surface of it, I am a touch helpless in terms of the strike, but if I resign my fate to the possibilities set by another person, I sign off my life to another person. The only way I can take back my being, is by considering what I can possibly do to defend myself against the possibility attacks of the other. I could protest or I could consider my options of heading elsewhere. The possibilities are, again, endless and  it really is  a matter of realizing one’s power in setting one’s own possibility!

Indeed, these notions are easier said than done. But the idea of living where impossible is nothing is to suggest that my downfall can also be the source of my revival. By removing impossibility from our lives, we risk stagnation and a society that does not move, is a society that does not change.

I truly hope that we have realized that our world speaks in the bullets of possibilities: you can either take it or bite it.x

Author: Ali Abbas