I like to people watch. I’m that person you catch missing train stops, running into brick walls, and falling over pavement because I am awe struck in my made-up story of the unlucky individual sitting/standing/reading/sleeping beside me. I pretend as though I get people, even when I have no idea who they are or what they’ve been through. I make up stories about where they’re headed in life, where they came from, and what they’re running from.
You could say I’m a silent narrator of the human race, but like – a really bad one.
To some extent, I believe we all pretend to understand people. Maybe its to relate to one another, or to feel a connection, or maybe its just so we don’t feel so distant in such an immense world.
But an individual’s true story will never fit into the template you’ve created in your mind.
The attacks in Paris, the people of Iraq, and the Syrian refugees prove this.
I will keep the following as PC as possible:
There are many cultures, but only one human race. We are all a part of this, and I hate to be the one to tell you – but to believe in equality means to believe it past the confines of your religion. To believe in love, to believe in freedom, to believe in the right to live goes far beyond your family and friends.
It seems easy to freely state a belief in something, but to see what your belief means beyond the familiarity of your current practices can be challenging. To have the core of your morality truly tested, you have to break away from your comfort zone. To close borders and cast hate, but pray for peace is only creating more of a disconnect.
I will not pretend that I know the answers to the current state of our nation and the world, but I know for us to gain any true sense of unity – we have to practice a more compassionate lifestyle. A lifestyle that seeks to understand, rather than judge. A lifestyle that hopes to open doors instead of close them shut.
Southern Wild 