Yes, I know that the numerous celeb deaths have come as a surprise to many of us. Why, why, why?? Why did they perish? Why now? We mourn for those we've never met, but we feel as through we've known them our whole lives. Or, perhaps we even shed a tear or two for someone we hadn't recently thought of until their death was announced.

Yet, I'm a bit leery at the sentiment of the general population. We are saddened, true. However, these deaths don't directly affect us or our lives. People die every day. You too, in this moment, are dying. Life is short, and it's never, ever guaranteed.

Here is my concern: we are so wrapped up in this Hollywood produced, Instagram filtered world that we stop seeing reality. How dare death come and steal our favorite singer, favorite actress, favorite idol? Life is not fair. Well, no it's not, but it's not unfair in the ways we think that it's unfair.

Switching gears for a moment. Think about Syria. Turmoil and anguish and death and destruction are daily struggles that these people have come to face. The war torn reality and end of the world situation that many face as I write this, as you read this. There are children who cry themselves to sleep...waiting, just waiting for another bomb to go off and end it all. To end the pain. The trauma. The hopelessness they have come to fully know.

We pride ourselves that our humanity is intact by mourning these celebrities who are no longer with us. But when it comes to true sorrow and anguish and death? We are prone to turn a blind eye. To say, "Oh, how horrible!" and continue living totally unaffected and disengaged to reality.

I, like you and the rest of the internet, am saddened by the many losses of 2016. Prince, David Bowie, Carrie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds, Gene Wilder, Muhammad Ali, Harper Lee, and Alan Rickman are only to name a few of the major ones who have passed. I'm sure if you have any sort of faith, you've probably prayed for the stars' families during this horrid season of loss. But...how many times have you prayed for the refugees all around the world? The children starving to death? The women with tear-streaked cheeks clutching their debris-covered dead children in their arms? The war stricken lands that are unrecoverable? The mass destruction taking place all around our planet? No, it's not on our minds, and since it's not in our own little "worlds," we disregard it.

We don't need to simply remember these people as victims. Many are proud survivors and continue to stand for justice and peace everyday. They continue to move forward, to hope for better days, to see the brevity of life that we so so often overlook. However, there is an inhumane and unacceptable tragedy happening in our world, and few of us even know or care about the details.

Or, perhaps we do care, but we simply don't see a way to make a difference. If we can't save them, why should we put ourselves through the trauma that their everdays hold? Why should we? Because it's the truth. The truth. No one should give a blind eye to the reality that our fellow humans face. No one. Yet, we do, we all do and we continue to—

not knowing any other way of life.

So, while I am saddened about Princess Leia's unexpected demise, heart attacks happen. Bombs, on the other hand, shouldn't. Children and adults alike shouldn't have to wonder whether they'll survive the day or if it will be ripped away from them prematurely. Yet, this is happening; it's reality to them. This is the world we live in—

it's just the one we don't usually acknowledge. War has always been an issue within the realms of the world, and I'm not suggesting that it will pass away. I only ask that we remember these people who have lost their lives. Those who have known nothing but the crowded refugee camp they reside in or the gun controlled borders that they can't escape.

I ask that you remember. I ask that you pray. I ask that you care.

"When the rich make war, it's the poor who die." ~Jean Paul Satire