From the Brock Turner case to the Orlando shootings, the past three weeks have really showed people around the globe how damaged the world is today. I think it's common sense that the world we live in is chaotic; everyone can admit it, but these past weeks have exhibited it in an eye opening way. It is definitely more serious than we all previously anticipated.
Chaos is driving people into their homes. Many are so fearful to the point where they aren't living anymore. These same people are demanding high security in places that previously didn't need anything of the sort -- places like schools, nightclubs, and movie theaters. And while it seems incredibly absurd, places with large masses of people -- places like schools, nightclubs, and movie theaters -- are the target to several of these attacks.
Parents seem to be the the majority of these people. Growing up, I was always trusted playing outside with the neighborhood kids without any supervision, but today, parents are so afraid of kidnapping and other acts that they always accompany their children, or keep them inside altogether. Out in public, you see more and more children strapped down in strollers and tied back by leashes.
We are a world dominated by fear. Women carry pepper spray in their purses daily. Children are taught how to escape a kidnapping situation more often than their vocabulary words, and when entering into large, crowded spaces, people automatically find their closest exit in case of any type of attack. Everyone is building a wall, and everything inside those walls is a bunker called the "comfort zone."
So what can we do about it? In a world so filled with hatred and chaos, what can one measly person do about it all? The answer is simple. Spread love; not hate, not fear, not chaos. The world has too much darkness already. You can be the small, flickering flame in the dark room, and that small flame can start a roaring fire.
As small and cheesy as it sounds, just a smile can go a long way. A hug can make someone forget all their problems. Instead of adding bricks to someone else's wall, break it down. Show them that there is more to the world than what's been displayed on every screen and newspaper. Spread music, spread laughter, spread hugs, spread friendship, spread love.
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
