Dear Reader,
You may know me, perhaps not. If you do, you will be familiar with my passion for love and finding out what it means and how to act on it and/or express it. As a child, you are pure. Untouched by outside influences, for the most part, free to discover things as you wander and stumble through life’s day-to-day mysteries. Human beings try to shield their children from negativity and hate by spreading stories and messages of love, friendship, and nurturing. Growing up, you believe in the ‘Happily Ever After’ or seeing the good in every person you come across. Then, it all changes. I remember vaguely when I was growing up being disgusted and terrified of the outside world. As I would come to discover, I was not alone. This led to a generation not watching the news, not seeing an issue from all sides, and reading into situations from one point of view. Cynical, pessimistic, reactive rather than proactive. In relationships, we hide behind mind games, coded text messages, and debating whether liking a tweet is being too forward. In love, the main stat, which every person can rattle off, 50 percent of marriages end in divorce. In politics, it is a constant battle between who is right and who is wrong. In war, there is no distinction between soldier, enemy and civilian. Negative rhetoric, violence and hate soon sweep over and consume that pure innocent core which was implanted in you as a child.
The pure child... And no I do not age backwards like Benjamin Button.
Too often, we hear news of another terrorist attack, school shooting, gun violence, assault or domestic abuse. The media balances this with one positive feel-good story at the end of the broadcast to distract you from all of the hate, which were discussed just minutes beforehand. It is almost like a Pavlov-esque experiment where they condition you to get sucked into the fear of imminent death. Politicians, media pundits, and people all preach about spreading love and coming together to solve the problems of the world. My question is why is it so much more difficult for people to latch onto this idea of hate and borderline fear mongering rather than the idea of love, which everyone claims to believe in?
People who are acting out are going about it in the wrong way. Violence is never the answer. The greatest philosophers of our time, Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lennon went about it the proper way. Practice what you preach and others will follow suit. Until people who were too stubborn to see something full circle took them away. Humans brush things off saying, “Oh, that could never happen to me… not in my town!” until it happens to you and it is too late. I am sure we can all think of someone who has been touched by any of these acts of violence; I know I can.
John Lennon's take on violence, still holds true. Inktank.
The payoff… This seems like it has been all doom and gloom up to this point, hasn’t it? There is a reason why so many Nicholas Sparks movies sell out and why so many people come together when something like same-sex marriage becomes legal. The core belief of trust, and hope of peace and love are still there. Human beings tend to follow the crowd. If you act out in love and peace, see the innocence in every person, people, in time, will follow suit. Do not buy in to the negative rhetoric, fear, or hate which is so widely publicized. My take? Tell people how you feel, smile at strangers, revel in the mystery of what each day holds, adapt instead of react. Instead of being viewed as a generation of failures and disappointments, the dark future of the world, adapt and spread love rather than act quickly on one negative emotion. This belief has been implanted in our brains since biblical times. Which is where I will ultimately end this letter. “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love”.
Sincerely,
A hopeful, loving, friend
