The Hedonist | Foreign/National
Life Tourist | Foreign/National
Feels Like Magic | Sports
You Doubt | Parks, Squares, and Alleys
Colored Emotions | Night Moves
Clarity | Balancer
Get Back | Memory House
A Well Adjusted Man | Coastgaard
It Goes On | Tin Can Radio
Nausea | Alohaha
Prozac & Merlot | The Sea Life
Thursday, again? Yeah. I know. This week has been quite hectic. I finally found a brief moment to pause and write a bit. So, here I am, playlist and words and all.
What happened in Brussels has been sitting on my heart all week. So many lives lost, yet again, and so many endangered. Others, left behind with nothing but the paralysis of fear. The entire situation makes my heart ache.
Unfortunately, this isn't the first time I've felt the obligation to write about the abundance of hate in our world. In fact, it has become too much of a norm. As painful as it is to see these words on paper--I mean on the screen: hate seems to be engulfing much of everything. Yes, we can take a fleeting glance at it as we are scrolling through the news or we can let it float through the swift current in our minds as we hear it in the background on the radio, on the TV. But the monster has grown out of proportion, maybe because of our ignorance, maybe because of our inaction; and if we look, we can also see its tendrils blindly flail about and wrap around anyone--those we pass at the grocery store, those we run into at the coffee shop, those in our daily lives. Heart breaking and alarming this is.
Unfortunately, this isn't the first time I've felt the obligation to write about the abundance of hate in our world. In fact, it has become too much of a norm. As painful as it is to see these words on paper--I mean on the screen: hate seems to be engulfing much of everything. Yes, we can take a fleeting glance at it as we are scrolling through the news or we can let it float through the swift current in our minds as we hear it in the background on the radio, on the TV. But the monster has grown out of proportion, maybe because of our ignorance, maybe because of our inaction; and if we look, we can also see its tendrils blindly flail about and wrap around anyone--those we pass at the grocery store, those we run into at the coffee shop, those in our daily lives. Heart breaking and alarming this is.
"The world suffers a lot. Not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people."
In a frenzied Pinteresting session late at night, I found the quote above--prior to the events which unfolded in Brussels. Honestly, those two sentences shook me up quite a bit. It's hard to place the blame on yourself. It's hard to turn a seemingly simple principle completely inside-out, just like that. Nevertheless, it made me think. A lot. Interpret it however you want, but in my mind, it screams "don't wait around, if you do, it will never stop". Something disquieting.
I feel like a broken record, I feel like I've said the following a countless number of times in conversations I hold and in places scattered all over the internet and sometimes I fear my words are meaningless when they are not. We can all make a difference, no matter how small the act. We shouldn't let things just happen. Sure, it seems crazy. But, changing the world doesn't mean reaching everyone or everything all at once. That's impossible even for the most influential people. Take advantage of what is available to you. A great start is putting words and those good, old vocal chords hiding in your throat to use. Compliment someone. Start a conversation. Utter something supportive. It is so simple to make someone happy and is nearly effortless in comparison to upsetting or hurting someone. Refrain from pointless arguments. Don't fall into the trap of jealousy. Help those in need. Let kindness shine through what you are doing in this world and if it does not, change it. Work on changing it. Show people love. Be vulnerable. Be soft. xx
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