Unity is the magic pill.
But unity
does not look like
shaming the broken.
Hear it.
It is this,
my truth,
I speak.
Tag: Understanding
Categories
Hope and Peace
What do I see when I see two sides at war?
I see the middle of it all. I see the hurt of both parties, and though I tend to take the side of whoever seems to have the most rational argument (according to my perspective) I can’t help but feel just…sadness. Absolute frustration, powerlessness and sadness.
I’m thinking specifically of this war that’s been raging in the U.S of late, both in terms of the political polarities tearing a hole in America, and in terms of the vastly differing socio-economic backgrounds and belief systems shaken up by the divided states of covid.
I’ve just come away from watching a video of the storming of the Capitol building. The video was clearly put together to support an agenda: a ‘Trump is horrible, and we are going to prove it by carefully constructing a highlight reel of the most shocking, heart-breaking scenes from the day.’ It worked. The video was shocking in its portrayal of Trump and his many loyal followers.
And yet, regardless of how well the video was crafted to sway public opinion to one particular side, there is no denying what happened that day was truly real. No denying the violence. No denying that this sort of primal aggression no longer belongs on the human stage: we’re not cavemen, anymore. Still, our primal instincts remain. How to healthily and peacefully honour them is a mystery yet to be solved by humanity, it seems.
As I watched the riot exploding all about the place, I took a side. I knew that I was taking a side, because I was thinking, ‘ How could they do this? This is so horrible. These people must be (insert judgment here.)’
But then it happened again. That thing that happens to me when I see an absolute wrong, and I ask myself more questions. But why are so many people screaming the same story, and how can so many people be wrong about what they believe? And how bad must their oppression have become for them to be behaving in such a dramatically inappropriate way?
It saddens me. All of it.
How on earth does a species overcome such drastically wide gaps in views and belief systems? How does a species become one harmonised species, rather than fifty billion tiny fragments of confusion, hatred and blame?
I don’t know.
So, I’m a little…I’m not sure what I am. I’m not sure frightened is the right word, and yet frightened really does seem to be the only word I can come up with in the face of all of this fight.
I do not condone the horrible horribleness (excuse my delightful eloquence, here) that occurred at the Capitol building that day, nor do I condone the hatred and inequality perpetuated by humanity, still. Oh my goodness, still. But what is there to do?
I don’t know what to do but surrender into the bleakness and just…hope. Hope that we can sort our stuff out before things get ever so much worse. Hope that humanity can find love and compassion, even in the face of absolute horror and ridiculousness.
Hope.
Hope that one day there will be peace.
Because all I’ve ever wanted was peace.
All I’ve ever wanted was peace.
Categories
Bullies and Paradox
Fragile would be an excellent word to describe me in the face of the western world’s bullying culture. I’ve been hearing the same internal whisper over and over for the past few weeks: fortify, Brooke, fortify, says the quiet voice, barely heard above the noise.
I’ve been away from facebook for a very long time, but over the past week or two I’ve gradually dipped a toe in to see how things are going. I’ve loved reconnecting with my lost people, I won’t lie. And things have been lovely and positive for the most part, which has been a nice surprise.
But. There was that one moment. The one that derailed me, the one that had me questioning: what do I do with the way I feel about this? What do I say to myself to help it feel a little better inside? Apparently the humans have come up with a term for the ache I came across. Cancel Culture, is it? Where a person is shamed for holding a view that is not generally agreed upon (and therefore, cast out of society, via pitch fork) is the general gist of it.
In this case, I came across a post which mentioned a man ( out of respect, I’ll not name him ) who has received quite a lot of back lash in the past due to his alternate views regarding health and wellness. The post was celebrating his downfall (I can’t remember the specifics) and the comment below the post was so vicious, it actually ached within me. It really had me wondering. Are we really still there? Slavery may have been abolished, but apparently we are still bullying the innocent (which is much the same thing, in my eyes.) Many a time in my life I’ve considered becoming a hermit. Tonight, I edged ever closer.
I would consider myself an extremely forgiving and compassionate person, but I have to say: I am struggling to find compassion for the bullies of the world. I try so desperately to see the higher perspective, to be there for everyone while we muddle our way through the chop, but it’s so hard. It hurts to say that, because I really do feel that every person is beautiful in their own way, even those I don’t necessarily resonate with.
I was bullied very badly early in high school. In fact, it was so bad that the whole class cheered when I was called out of the classroom on my last day at that particular school. My Mum thought I was going to kill myself. I was happy enough to snuggle up with the joys of my imagination until it all went away. Still, it’s clearly done some damage.
Perhaps this is why the current day bullies, trolls (whatever you might call them) feel so horrible to me. Perhaps this is why I find it very difficult to wait out the course of their abuse in the hopes that they might one day learn kindness and understanding via the consequences of their bullying ways.
The interesting thing is (and here’s to the absolutely mind boggling paradox of life): I am placing the same judgement on these bullying individuals as they have placed on that poor fellow who just kinda doesn’t believe what they believe. Life, hey. I’ll leave that old chestnut with you to mull over a while.
The nature of the universe is chaos. It is not black and white, and this is where us humans do seem to struggle. We seem to need the polarities and contrasts to help us to fully experience life. The differences in life create experience, and beauty, and deep, deep life.
I just wish deep, deep life was a little gentler, sometimes.
Categories
Darling Day 30. War
Dear sweet love,
give me a word.
Whisper me back when I drift
into the clouds above the sorrow.
For the days are long,
and the world is at war
without seeing or knowing it.
But I see.
I know.
So I am flying,
always toward the darling sun
of us.
Darling sun.
Give me the strength to see the war
and know my heart
will make it to a brighter tomorrow.
Categories
Bread-loaf
I see, now, that my truth will never be yours.
And your truth will never be mine,
because we are two seperate grains
in the bread-loaf of life.
But we are the same in some ways.
We are both the same loaf of bread.
(Humanity)
We are the same.
But we are different,
and we each have an important
texture
and taste
to grow the world with.
Just think of what we might achieve
together
if we remembered
that each of us
adds nutritional value
to the delicious
bread-loaf
we are.
(Nommmm)
( 😛 )
( xx )
Categories
The Journey to Shine
‘Sun?’
‘Yes, Moon?’ Sun replied, glancing over his shoulder at the beautiful, shining friend who sat so solemnly beside him. He continued to dangle his fishing line over earth. Soon, he knew, the daytime of the south would chomp.
‘I have a confession to make, Sun. Oh my goodness. I think I love my shine,’ said Moon, gently drooping with shame.
‘But why would you think that loving your shine is a a bad thing, Moon? Heavens, silly duffer. How dear you are to me.’
Moon raised her face and pointed into the distance. ‘Those stars over there told me that if I love myself, it means I’m arrogant. It means that I only care for myself. It means…that I am bad, and they are good.’
Sun looked upon the group of stars in the distance- beautiful little star children, enjoying their perspective of the world, shining the only way they knew how.
‘Moon. But you must love your shine, otherwise you would snuff it out and there would only be darkness. The humans need your shine. And so do those stars over there. Because one day, they’ll be offered the chance to unleash their own shine- and you’ll have already given them permission to say: yes.’
brooke-cutler.com 