Times are tough for many people over the whole world. We have seen rampant corruption and greed rise to phenomenal heights. I don’t need to list the problems. You feel them and hear some of it on the news from local to international. It’s like watching a train wreck. It’s awful but there’s a terrible fascination about it. And part of the horror of it all –is much of it is preventable. If you distill it down to it’s roots it comes from a disconnection. The “Walk a mile in another’s shoes” and “Do unto others as you would like them to do unto you” form of compassion has been set aside.
Part of that lack is our communication has broken down. We don’t LISTEN to what the other guy is saying and he doesn’t listen to us. We talk or shout AT each other. It is natural to see the world colored by our experiences and values but to do so without understanding how it affects our friends and neighbors is a tragedy in the making. If we get to know the other guy and what is happening in his life it is easier to communicate and be compassionate.
The negative inertia can start in small ways. I was talking to my sister and niece about some problems my characters would be dealing with in a book I’m writing. These difficulties are taken from current events. When they saw what I wanted to do they were adamant that I shouldn’t write the book. Why? Because they believed that the power people would notice my book and try to hurt me. When did fear take over our lives? For countless of thousands hope is dying or is dead. When that happens things can get r.e.a.l.l.y ugly. That is why we NEED to speak up and to write books/stories that make people think and let them know they are not alone and that there are alternatives.
Into this came a message from a friend of mine. She is a woman of great depths and has felt discrimination and hardship. She has gone back to school and is working on her degree. It is an unusual area in which to get credentialed. Yet as I thought about it seemed to me that if she could make a dent in that compassion disconnect it would be another stepping stone toward a better future. In her own way she is trying to do what I am with the book I’m writing and others are doing with their efforts. So I ask you to please go to this site and read it. Help her out if you can. We are all part of the solution.
http://www.gofundme.com/collective-compassion
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