My People

What kind of world do you want to live in?

I think its easy to say things like the following:

I want to live in a world where everyone gets along

I want to live in a world where discrimination does not exist

I want to live in a world where everyone gets to eat good, healthy food

and

I want to live in a world where everyone cares for one another.

These are all great, admirable wishes for the society in which we  live and some of us even fight to reach these ideals.

But when we say these things, do we really have the bigger picture in mind?

When I think of Ebola, I think of many, many different things. I think of the several human lives that have been lost. I think of the several more lives that have lost a loved one. I think of a painful death that I cannot even fathom. And my heart breaks. I don't care where the person is from or even how they got Ebola. My heart just breaks.

And then I see and hear individuals joking about Ebola.

"Don't worry guys, I just have a cold. I won't give you Ebola or anything!"

"I'm travelling to Brazil soon. I hope I don't get Ebola and die!"

I understand the need to make light of grim situations. As an individual working in the line of social work, I have witnessed the use (and have used) humor as a way to cope with overwhelmingly negative situations. But is this how we should be approaching a global crisis? Yes, Ebola is mostly in just a few countries in west Africa. No, Ebola is not spreading like wildfire throughout the rest of the world right now. But yes, this is a global crisis because, at least for me, my friends, my peers, my people, are everywhere. I care about what happens in Swaziland, Costa Rica, Ukraine, and Cambodia.

I can count on my hand the number of cases that have been found in America. I can't do that for the cases found in Liberia and the other countries affected. Yet, as soon as one case came to America, that's when Ebola REALLY became a problem for many people. Why do many individuals not care about an issue like this until it "hits their country"? Many of us are hundreds of miles away from the FEW cases in America. Hundreds of miles. In addition, these cases have been caught and handled. So why the hysteria? I understand the fear of the unknown:

How will Ebola continue to spread? Will it spread? How is Ebola actually transmitted?

These are questions we should be asking. But not for our own skins alone. We should be asking these questions for other people. In other countries. People we have never and probably will never meet. But they're people too. With families. With jobs. With dreams. With feelings. With a future.

Those people. Those breathing, living human beings.  I don't know their names. I don't know their lives. I don't know where they came from or where they are going. But those are my people. I'm not a doctor or a scientist or a government official. But I'm a fellow human. I can pray. I can support those who are actively trying to fight what is happening. I can support families who have just lost, or who will eventually lose, a loved one. I can support my fellow human beings who are dying. I can pray for them and I can love them. Because they're humans. They are my people.

I hope you can do the same.

Smiles, Cupcakes, and The Muppets

After having a busy day and after having time to go over the days events in my head I determined that if viewed correctly, life would be an epic comedy. Irony, laughter, tension, perhaps some disappointments and bad situations, smiles, and jokes. Is this true for everyone? Or Is it that I am just choosing to look at my life in a positive way? Or are there those that, after choosing optimism, still cannot view life as nicely as I can? I have a strong feeling that there are. But why? Is it because they have experienced hardships that I could never imagine? Is it from a deprivation of God in their lives? Or is it just my personality? I believe all three can possibly be true. Whatever the reason is, I know this to be true: I do not have the ability to make a generalization about the lives of others. Each and every individual is unique. Everyone has their own story. Everyone needs to be loved. Everyone needs to smile. Everyone needs to laugh.

Human Trafficking

Soo.. Today is Human Trafficking Awareness Day. " What? Human trafficking?.. People being bought and sold?" Some of you might be thinking just that. Many people don't even realize slavery still exists.. Yet it's the fastest growing crime in the world. It's not just a crime.. It's a business. A terrible thing that must be stopped. 50% of trafficking victims are children. That means that for every adult slave... There's also a child being exploited. That's just wrong. 80% of all slaves are girls. It could be you, or someone you love. Human trafficking is awful, yet few know about it. I wonder what a difference we could make if we worked together to make everyone aware. Human trafficking is everywhere. There's no escape from it. Do your part. Make It known. Slavery exists. It needs to end. 
Make a difference.

Jigsaw Puzzle Part 1

"Life keeps throwing curveballs that break my hand and leave me hurting.. But I keep walking" - Anonymous
     Life isn't easy. Life isn't easy at all. For this post I'd like to talk about fears and fiction..two things I have learned about and discussed recently.
Fear:
 distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain
     Why do people become afraid? Is it knowledge that one, or one's lover ones are being put in danger, as the definition states? And what are we truly afraid of? And when I ask that I mean to ask: if one is afraid, or has a fear of something, why is that fear present? Are we naturally born with fears? Are our fears developed as young children based on what we encounter?..does the young child spooked by a clown then have a lifelong fear of clowns? Or do our fears change with us as we change?
Fiction:
 something feigned, invented, or imagined; a made-up story
     Fiction is something many people enjoy, whether it be a book or a movie. Fiction tells a story that, although it may/may not be realistic, a person can relate to in some way. People turn to fiction because it provides an adventure. Not only does it provide an adventure, it's provides it in such a way that the person reading/watching/listening to a fictional story is safe, yet experiencing every move the characters make. For humans, this can allow us to feel more valued and important. Fiction also creates excitement. This is why humans turn to fiction so often. We long for an escape from reality while wanting conflict to occur and then, most importantly, a resolution. Perhaps when the resolution occurs in a story, we are more hopeful that there will be a resolution in our own lives.
      I am not against fiction whatsoever, but for some, fiction could turn into more than just entertainment. Even turning to fiction as a temporary escape from reality could have a negative impact, even if we aren't aware of it. Just like anything else, the more and more we rely on and turn to  something/someone, the bigger chance that/they have of becoming an "idol" to us.

She's a butterfly with a broken wing.
He's a fire out of control.
They're stars without their glow.
They are the broken.

She prays one day she'll be free,
to fly away from the hurt she sees,
to find herself, to be real.

He follows a trend; he can't get out,
he holds a great power,
but can't be held back.
He wants change.

They know their duty,
They're held back.
They scream and cry in pain.
They need someone to see them.

Impact

     I recently finished listening to an audio book version of Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher. Normally I don't listen to audio books, but the majority of the story is Hannah Baker, a high school student who committed suicide, speaking on tapes. She records the thirteen reasons why she chose to kill herself. When she was a new student at the school, one little thing happened, which people chose to make into a bigger thing, and work off of it.
     Hannah Baker spends several years living in an area that believes many rumors about her, which are all lies, and treats her differently, sometimes badly, because of them. During those years, she handles the rumors, the lack of friends, the inability to trust anybody, and the overall struggle to connect. As she goes through the 13 reasons why she did what she did, she mentions, over and over, that nobody realized what they were doing to her. Some of them knew that their actions were far from kind, but they didn't even comprehend what kind of an impact it had on her. One small rumor about Hannah caused many, many more rumors, which everyone chose to believe and act on.
     Hannah tried her best to find someone she could confide in, and trust. Every time she tried to, she got hurt, because the person was using her. She had to learn to cope. Eventually... coping wasn't good enough. She had decided to float through high school, making no connections with ANYONE. Or she'd just get hurt again. That decision didn't last long because of other events that happened, and she gave up.
     No one knew or even noticed what was happening with her, and if they did, she pushed them away. Jay Asher's book causes so many questions to arrive. How do we impact others? And how much?
     It has to be different between each person, right? Every person has to be different...able to handle and react to things differently. How often do we pay attention to how we treat others? And when we do.. do we let ourselves get away with treating others badly? Could it be that, sometimes, what we view as okay, could be viewed as awful or terrible to someone else? Could what we do, even if it is completely innocent, cause a chain of events that slowly get worse? Is there any possible way to prevent this? If a chain of events is started, can it be stopped? Why don't we notice when someone may be slipping away? And if we do, why is it that those people are ignored when they need help the most?

"I guess that's the point of it all. No one knows for certain how much of impact they have on the lives of other people. Oftentimes we have no clue."-Hannah Baker

Apathy

The dictionary definition for apathy is: lack of interest in or concern for things that others find moving or exciting.
     What is apathy caused by? Self-centeredness? Difference of opinions? Do human beings simply have an ability to turn off the "caring" part in them? Is it always voluntary? And if not, is there a way to turn the "caring" part in them back on? Could apathy potentially be a sign of a much bigger issue?
     And who can distinguish apathy from, potentially, anger, frustration, or stress? Or do they go hand in hand?
A lot of times, when a person displays apathy, whomever they display it to may become upset. Who is this unfair to? The apathetic or the receiving end of apathy? It changes in each situation, right? So what are we to do? Use our best judgement, act wisely, and prevent upset. Apathy can fall under many different categories, such as: ignorance and rudeness, so it should be treated the same way. Properly.

"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger"--Proverbs 15:1

"A patient man has a great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly."--Proverbs 14: 29