It can't be just a buzzword. It has to be more than a trend. We can't be a people who just use our words for our own selfish "likes" and comments. We need action beyond a screen. Our sisters and brothers are literally dying. No, I am not using that word in the recent trendy fashion; I mean what I say.
I can't stand to witness my the death and defamation of my family members. I'm pulled into the story because our chords are connected. I cannot swipe past it and try to pretend that it's not happening. Even if I did, I cannot claim ignorance. That is not ignorance, that's indifference. That's numbing. That's wishful thinking that maybe I'll forget about it and can go about my day. That's privilege veiled under the mask of indifference. I cannot abandon my own kin.
And you are my kin. You are my brother. You are my sister. We are in this together. Victim. Perpetrator. Mother. Father. We are in this together. We cannot keep painting with such thick brushes and hope that magically things will get better some day. Small stones create many ripples. Sure, large rocks make a big splash and if that's what you have then do it, but if all you have are pebbles then make the most of them.
Please do not give in to the selfishness that tries to tell you that your greed is something to be celebrated. And you too, don't let those liars convince you that taking time for yourself is selfish. We all need our own time. We all need different things at different times. As I like to say, "we have different relationships with different people for different reasons." It's okay to be in a different place than those around you. It's normal.
Speaking of normal, that's okay too. It's perfectly normal to be imperfectly weird. There is no problem with being a little mundane or ordinary. You don't have to do something extraordinary to prove your meaning. Don't you know that your being here is already so significant? How fortunate the world is to have someone just like you! How lucky are those who get to surround themselves with you!
And you, in the back, by yourself. You too! No, you're not going unnoticed. Nor are we here to call you out. We just want to say we see you too. We know you need your alone time too and we respect that. We celebrate you for having the courage to lean into that. People may have tried to call you out for that at different points in your life, saying you're too shy or timid, but you know yourself better than that.
You're not too shy, you're just as you were meant to be in this moment. There may be moments when you need to push yourself to jump out of your comfort zone before it becomes complacency, but that's not always you and that's okay. The world needs your quiet, your soft-spoken absorption of your surroundings. Even when you're not talking, we know your wheels are still turning. Your silence does not mean you are absent. On the contrary, there are moments when you are more present than the rest of us as you soak in all your surroundings. Thank you for setting such a profound example for us about what healthy boundaries can look like!
To all the rest, or no, to all of you. Something good can still be coming. We were the generation of potential, but we haven't lost it yet. We're still creating our world. Everyday we're creating the world we want. These little ripples feel so shallow sometimes. This sliver of hope often feels like despair, but we can make it.
So
until next time
don't let the fear
of the unknown
keep you from
curiosity and
being
known.
