contemplative
i've been thinking a lot, about the world, and people, and humanity, and society...and the easy summary on my mind would be "society is so fucked up," but I have more to explain.
one thing I thought about was how (and yes, many people have brought this up before) violence is treated much less seriously than sex, especially on tv. movie with a sex scene in it? rated R. movie with violence in it? depending on the type of violence, it could still be PG.
so, which is worse?
someone committing suicide in a bathroom with a loaded gun...
or someone exposing their naked body?
if you had a five-year old kid, which photo would you show him or her, if you had to choose? personally, i would rather my child see a sex scene than a scene involving guns or other fatal weapons being used.
well anyway, I was talking to my best friend about the past, forgiveness, regret, sorrow, revenge, hate. and I was told that what I said was beautiful. so maybe I should share just a bit of it?
the way i see the world, on a very broad level, is that the human race is just a bunch of people trying to live. many different people start out with many different things...health problems or good health, wealth or poverty, etc. and these things, needless to say, can make a difference in the way each person lives their lives. I think that behind most every action, there was a reason that it was performed...whether it be a good reason or not. but all you can do to negative actions is try. try to forgive, try to understand. out of every single person in the world, who is on your list to hate?
well, i'll try and guess a few of the most popular...
- osama bin laden/terrorists
- president bush
- person at school or work
- ex boyfriend/girlfriend
- someone who hurt you
- someone who hurt someone you love
- the person who is lower than you
- the person that is higher than you
- yourself
- people who hate you
but each one of these people has something in common with you...they are all human. "see yourself in others...then whom can you hurt?" or whom can you hate? terrorists believe that what they do is right. bush isn't always at fault. that person at school or work has a difficult life, too. your ex was only human. that person who hurt you regrets it. that person that hurt someone else doesn't even realize how many other people he hurt. that person lower than you deserves a chance. that person higher than you doesn't have it so great, after all. you are not perfect, just like everyone else. and bringing me to my next point, hating the people that supposedly hate you is just not helping anyone.
I once thought of this scenario: what if tomorrow, a random man was to pull out their gun and shoot my father? of course this is a horrible thought, and i would be completely devastated and depressed. I would be angry and frustrated. but I also thought...what if law enforcement found the murderer? immediately this person comes to mind as someone that is completely logical to hate. but after much contemplation, I was sure that I would not hate this man. after much time for grieving, i would want to contact this man. so I see him with his stringy long hair that hasn't been brushed or washed for days, and his unshaven face and orange jumpsuit...then greet him and hug him. just like i did to the man that came to our school to talk about his battle with HIV/AIDS. i would hug him so tight and cry for his unfortunate life. what I did to come to this conclusion is think of if I were him. why would I kill a guy? because I am crazy? because I am on drugs or drunk? because I am stupid? maybe because I am unloved? and although these reasons are not good reasons at all to kill a man, they are truths nonetheless. so as I imagine this scene and slowly try to understand such a horrible act, I start to cry because I realize that this man has not only wasted my father's life but his own. to hate this man would be unproductive. to ignore him would be expected. to love him would be extraordinary. so what if I went up to this man and hugged him and whispered in his ear, "I love you...don't you know?" or "i forgive you for what you did, really." or "i want to help you get better". not only would these words mean so much to this alleged horrible murderer, but they would help to heal the depression i had about the death. and how would he react to me saying such a thing? hard to tell...but what if my words had a positive effect on him? what if i could help him get through therapy? what if the only thing he ever wanted to hear out of anyone's mouth was "I love you"? because maybe he hadn't heard anyone say that that he could remember. some people have no one to love, or no one to love them.
so what does this all mean? that revenge gets us nowhere. that hate doesn't only get us nowhere but actually moves us backwards. so I think that maybe we should all work on seeing ourselves in others. not so you can love everyone, because that's redundant...but because if you turn a negative relationship into a positive, you can better their lives and yours too.
one last thing...there is a group of kids at my high school that are either physically or mentally disabled, or both, so they attend special classes. one of the girls has some kind of mental abnormality, but doesn't realize it. and just recently she's been going up to some of the "higher than thou" kids in the school, because she wants to hang out with them...she wants to talk to them. and at first, this guy kept ignoring her calls by walking away or just not answering. sometimes he would tell her to go away. but just last week, I saw her talking to him. and although he didn't look very excited, he was answering her back and making a small conversation. to anyone ever in that situation...what would you rather do? look cool in front of your friends or make a person's day that might not live as long as you? i smile.
one thing I thought about was how (and yes, many people have brought this up before) violence is treated much less seriously than sex, especially on tv. movie with a sex scene in it? rated R. movie with violence in it? depending on the type of violence, it could still be PG.
so, which is worse?
someone committing suicide in a bathroom with a loaded gun...
or someone exposing their naked body?
if you had a five-year old kid, which photo would you show him or her, if you had to choose? personally, i would rather my child see a sex scene than a scene involving guns or other fatal weapons being used.
well anyway, I was talking to my best friend about the past, forgiveness, regret, sorrow, revenge, hate. and I was told that what I said was beautiful. so maybe I should share just a bit of it?
the way i see the world, on a very broad level, is that the human race is just a bunch of people trying to live. many different people start out with many different things...health problems or good health, wealth or poverty, etc. and these things, needless to say, can make a difference in the way each person lives their lives. I think that behind most every action, there was a reason that it was performed...whether it be a good reason or not. but all you can do to negative actions is try. try to forgive, try to understand. out of every single person in the world, who is on your list to hate?
well, i'll try and guess a few of the most popular...
- osama bin laden/terrorists
- president bush
- person at school or work
- ex boyfriend/girlfriend
- someone who hurt you
- someone who hurt someone you love
- the person who is lower than you
- the person that is higher than you
- yourself
- people who hate you
but each one of these people has something in common with you...they are all human. "see yourself in others...then whom can you hurt?" or whom can you hate? terrorists believe that what they do is right. bush isn't always at fault. that person at school or work has a difficult life, too. your ex was only human. that person who hurt you regrets it. that person that hurt someone else doesn't even realize how many other people he hurt. that person lower than you deserves a chance. that person higher than you doesn't have it so great, after all. you are not perfect, just like everyone else. and bringing me to my next point, hating the people that supposedly hate you is just not helping anyone.
I once thought of this scenario: what if tomorrow, a random man was to pull out their gun and shoot my father? of course this is a horrible thought, and i would be completely devastated and depressed. I would be angry and frustrated. but I also thought...what if law enforcement found the murderer? immediately this person comes to mind as someone that is completely logical to hate. but after much contemplation, I was sure that I would not hate this man. after much time for grieving, i would want to contact this man. so I see him with his stringy long hair that hasn't been brushed or washed for days, and his unshaven face and orange jumpsuit...then greet him and hug him. just like i did to the man that came to our school to talk about his battle with HIV/AIDS. i would hug him so tight and cry for his unfortunate life. what I did to come to this conclusion is think of if I were him. why would I kill a guy? because I am crazy? because I am on drugs or drunk? because I am stupid? maybe because I am unloved? and although these reasons are not good reasons at all to kill a man, they are truths nonetheless. so as I imagine this scene and slowly try to understand such a horrible act, I start to cry because I realize that this man has not only wasted my father's life but his own. to hate this man would be unproductive. to ignore him would be expected. to love him would be extraordinary. so what if I went up to this man and hugged him and whispered in his ear, "I love you...don't you know?" or "i forgive you for what you did, really." or "i want to help you get better". not only would these words mean so much to this alleged horrible murderer, but they would help to heal the depression i had about the death. and how would he react to me saying such a thing? hard to tell...but what if my words had a positive effect on him? what if i could help him get through therapy? what if the only thing he ever wanted to hear out of anyone's mouth was "I love you"? because maybe he hadn't heard anyone say that that he could remember. some people have no one to love, or no one to love them.
so what does this all mean? that revenge gets us nowhere. that hate doesn't only get us nowhere but actually moves us backwards. so I think that maybe we should all work on seeing ourselves in others. not so you can love everyone, because that's redundant...but because if you turn a negative relationship into a positive, you can better their lives and yours too.
one last thing...there is a group of kids at my high school that are either physically or mentally disabled, or both, so they attend special classes. one of the girls has some kind of mental abnormality, but doesn't realize it. and just recently she's been going up to some of the "higher than thou" kids in the school, because she wants to hang out with them...she wants to talk to them. and at first, this guy kept ignoring her calls by walking away or just not answering. sometimes he would tell her to go away. but just last week, I saw her talking to him. and although he didn't look very excited, he was answering her back and making a small conversation. to anyone ever in that situation...what would you rather do? look cool in front of your friends or make a person's day that might not live as long as you? i smile.