Last night as I was writing my very first blog on this website, my mom appeared. She had been at our old house, finishing up the cleaning, and she got home at about 10:30 PM. When she came in she told me that she was worried- she has driven past a small park about a block down the road and seen a small girl sitting there in the dark alone, head down. Whatever her age, we knew the girl shouldn't be out at that time of night alone. So we got in the car and took a drive down to check on her, and sure enough, she was still there. But as our car slowed down and our faces peered out the window, trying to get a good look at the girl, she stood up and began to brickly walk away, into the dark shadows between two houses. My mom and I drove home...but still feeling concerned, decided to walk down to that park incase she returned and needed our help. She never returned, and after 20 mintues, my mom and I retreated into our home, wished each other goodnight, and slept comfortably in our beds.
The suburb where I have spent most of my life is a quiet but esteemed town with the best schools and a low crime rate. To outsiders, it looks like the perfect place to live, a great place to raise your wealthy, white kids. But those of us who are residents know the truth.
Almost every one of my friends can tell you a story. My best friend who had an abortion at the age of 16- who's parents think is a virgin. A sweet Christian girl in my french class who's father's physical abuse and mother's verbal abuse is becoming too much to take. A shy freshman who's father is gay and stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from his company and ran off with his boyfriend- leaving him to a bitter and sadistic mother. These are just a few examples of the lives of my peers. Not to mention about half of my high school has a drinking problem.The lives of the so called, "upper class" is anything but perfect.
So even the privledged have problems. Maybe the reason why kids today are so apathetic to the plight of humanity is because they have too many of their own problems to deal with. Or their parents have set an example for them to be self-consumed and depressed. The fact is that people need to heal themselves before they can begin to heal the world. And those who already feel themselves to be healed, it is their jobs to help others. All it takes is a small act. A small action that will make an impact on more people than you know. So you want to change the world? Good, but chances are you wont be able to go negotiate peace with a foreign government as a young adult. Chances are you wont be able to stop ban smoking or put an immediate stop to the war in the middle east. All you have to do is reach one heart at a time, protect a little girl, make a child feel safe. Teach the next generation to care and to love by being compassionate and loving. There is no greater or more powerful example one human can set.
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This is it! I love you, haha
Yet again a great read!
More, keep it coming, lol
http://www.loveearth.com/uk/film/
We are pushing our kids too far these days... Great insight and sharing...
what a wonderful blog. I completely agree. Well posted!!
Jeanna Marie
people need to heal themselves before they can begin to heal the world
That's a Buddhist principle, I reckon. Finding that inner peace, sometimes a literal peace, before preaching something as ubiquitous as world peace or sustainability.
The Once-ler: Well, what do you want? I should shut down my factory, fire a hundred-thousand workers? Is that good economics, is that sound for the country?
I read a story where a man started off young, with plans to change the world, but after realizing the world wouldn't change, decided to focus on his community. That fell through as well, so in a last minute attempt to make a difference tried to change his close family and friends. Like everyone else, they were too stubborn to allow themselves to be changed. As he lay dying, he realized that all he would have had to do was to try and change himself, and maybe people would have followed his example. Your blog made me think about how true it is. We try and start too big, fail, and get frustrated. If we made a small difference, that would make us think about how the world is just a little better now, and maybe we can do more.
And you're right: those perfect little neighborhoods aren't perfect. Most of the time, they are just better at hiding their problems from the rest of the world.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/tricia0711
Very good for a second blog. Very good for any blog, actually. I hope that girl is alright.
This was an interesting look behind the scenes. You never really know someone until you find out something they've been hiding like an abortion or bad home life.
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This is a signature, an automated thingy that pops up when I comment, not a demand to see my blog!
Mind Control is Easier Than You Think
I call it the white picket fence syndrome... The fence hides what is wrong and every body wants to be like them.
Good Good good
~T
All truths are easy to understand once discovered; The point is to discover them ~Galileo
If you help someone, in the slightest of way to make their day better, your day automatically becomes better too. You feel like you have accomplished something. I'm in a PAL program at my school where we visit children in Elementary and Middle schools, and mentor them. We just talk to them and play games and do arts & crafts. We're there for them whenever they want to talk; it makes me feel AMAZING that I am able to fill these childrens hearts with hope and understanding. We don't try to fix everything, we just LISTEN, we don't judge or repremand. It is the world's greatest Honor to help the next generation.
Your blog was amazing, and beautifully written. Everything is TRUE, we have to start of small, that way once one person is helped, they'll go and help another person, and begin a chain reaction; making the world a beter place. (yes like in Pay It Forward starring Haley Joel Osment)
Your post reminds me of Henri Nouwen's ideas about being a "wounded healer." After we go through our own battles, heal and come out on the other side, we can use that as fuel to help others. We share our experiences with others so that they can heal and come out on the other side of bad times too.
Your post is awesome.
www.progressiveu.org/blog/americangirlinchina
Very true point
I was reading an article in some news magazine like newsweek or something and it said that the upper class have more problems than the urban communities. It would be nice to believe that but i think we still got you beat, unfortunately.
Your Brother Rhino!
That working to heal the world can go a long way toward healing ourselves. Sometimes we can't see the needs of others until we tend to our own needs, but if there is an external issue we CAN address, even in the midst of our own personal turmoil, we do ourselves some good too.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
Wonderfully put! It's useful for everyone to remember that just because someone seems like they have a good life, it doesn't mean they don't have problems of their own to work through. We should be compassionate to everyone, but it's definitely something I struggle with constantly.
This was a lovely reminder. Keep them coming!
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Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress. --Mahatma Gandhi
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