I know that I’ve been a storm cloud of late, but it’s been really hard to shake the fact that I am sad. Something very wrong is going on around the world, and we’re not taking it seriously at our own peril.
I started out writing this post in bullet points so others would read it, but I’ve changed my mind. These words need to be said in a stream of consciousness. Only because I’ve been bleeding on the inside, and it’s being caused by others who I would have never suspected of being cruel. Our closest loved ones and even strangers who sound reasonable are all acting as though their emotions supersede all of the reasoning for building a safe world for all. Who knew that I would now be scared of emotions?
Somewhere along the way, we lost our compass that guides us – not just morally but also literally. From below, words of hatred are thrown as darts at anyone who does not belong in your clique. From above, the leaders shower us with pretty words that are completely meaningless when their actions are opposite.
We aren’t robots that perform in a straight line. We’re not even pushers of whatever trend is making the most money. We most certainly are not walking billboards to advertise what a soulless entity wants to sell to take over the world. When we decided that institutions deserved more respect than the people that built them, we fell off the path of our humanity that led to a prosperous future. Prosperity isn’t only about what you obtain, but also what you attain and retain.
Where did our caring go? Where did our curiosity go? Where did our dreaming go? Where is anything that brings out beauty to be appreciated without being coveted?
I appreciate birds because they can fly free. I appreciate all living creatures because they live in a purer sense than we do. We love animals in return because the love they provide to us is a true love, without conditions. And yet we do not treat them all in the same manner, protecting them as they do us.
We expect them all to live by our rules, yet it is our very rules that are corroding us from the outside in. When someone claps at the pain another causes a perceived enemy, we all lose. Multiply that by every person at all levels of society doing harm to someone weaker and you get a breakdown that not even the rule of law can fix.
At some point, all of our learning is just words. And that is not something that I want to accept as I am a lover and creator of words. Words are not some simple concept that fits their definition. They have the power to build worlds when they are combined together. They have the ability to create dreams when they are used creatively.
But they also have a darker side when they are used with malice. And that is where it feels like we have landed. A world that actively chooses darkness in order to protect the very little light that we can see. Because we refuse to tend to the light that shines on truths that we don’t want to see.
I am sad that we choose labels over being the complex beings that we all are. Nothing should stay the same forever because we are supposed to be growing from learning new things each and every day. And yet, the past seems to be held in lofty respect simply because that’s how it’s always been done. Where does the future come from when nothing changes?
This is a tweet that has been bothering me since I read it:
If this is going to be our conversation to one another from now on, then how do we ever expect to live, work, and love togther? If people are applauding violence as an answer, then they are really not being human (I hope we haven’t devolved). We already have too much violence in this world, no matter what other “experts” like Pinker say. We’ve become the numbers that we so cherish, and have forgotten that they are not he be-all, end-all of this universe. Checkboxes, labels, numbers and data are all limited for a very good reason – they are not all-inclusive.
I can barely look at social media or news of late because the darkness is overcoming the light. Brutality should not be the foundation of rules, laws, thinking and acting and yet it is. All because we no longer want to be together. We’ve only got one planet, and it’s time that we remember that it is as fragile as we are.
Here’s a thought: Every organization that only fights in one way is missing the point of this so-called revolution. When a world is trying to change the inside, it is going to take much more than rules and process. If you are not allowing others to do their part in their way, and you are pushing them out before they can accomplish the dreams in their minds and hearts, then you will never win whatever cause you are engaging in. Look at your maps, and you will notice that they are not as crowded. Perhaps that is because you are being two dimensional, when the world is not. Some of us are serious about changing for the good of all. You really should hear those voices as well if you want a different outcome.
