Coffee and Cheese; two of the small delights in life.

I was chatting with a friend today. Amongst the discussion was her utter disappointment in mankind. I have to admit I agree with her. With the mass amounts of hate and sheer disregard for our fellow human beings that exist it is hard not to become disenfranchised from wanting to be a part of the world. It is hard enough to reconcile the fact that people actually believe and think some of the things they do. It is out right shocking at times that people have the audacity to say and act on those things and are not embarrassed by their disregard for their fellow human being. Yes, I say human being specifically leaving out “American”. The United States so often put itself on a pedestal of moral superiority, however rarely exhibits any of the traits in which I would deem as moral or even decent. It seems that we forget that we are a human race, not an American race. Even within the “American” context, we divide ourselves from each other using our moral complex as justification. Ultimately we are going to destroy ourselves however. Not in the milieu that is often thrown about (due to our straying from morals and traditional beliefs). No, it will be in our lack of respect for each other. It will ultimately end in blowing each other up over some fairy tale stated in the bible, Koran, or any other book.

I find it hard to understand or even relate to thinking it is ok or somehow right to treat people with so much contempt. As a kid I always clung to treating people well and loving them because they are a person. Walking past someone that is homeless and thinking “that bum should get a job” never even crossed my mind. Being able to reach out and help someone in need was just what you did. Having respect for the life and rights of someone else was expected. I take a look at the world around me now, some people I know, things being published in the media and it brings a great sadness to me. When did people become so mean and hurtful towards each other? I guess people have always been this way, I just chose to stay in my oblivious bubble that people are generally good. I find it an absolutely offending concept that people excuse their actions though “god” or religion. I refuse to live a life of excuses.

With that being said, I refuse to believe that the human race as completely disappeared. I believe there is good in the world if only for my own selfish reasons of having a purpose to get up in the morning. A friend of mine once said something to me that struck a chord in my being. She had eluded to the fact that for a long time she was trying to figure me out because there was no way anyone would be so nice with out having some ulterior motive. This was a person that had lived a fairly dismal existence in drugs. Her surroundings were drug users and people that always wanted something. She said it dawned on her that maybe there were people out there that just cared and were actually good people. I have thought about that conversation a lot, especially recently with the mass amounts of disheartening things that seem to be coming to a forefront. My conclusion is that yes, there are good people and good things. The media has a tendency to throw about all of the bad things going on in the world, and the good things and people are often overlooked and overpowered by the bad. With that being said, a few of the things I am going to list are what I see as being good and give me hope.

1.) Recently I have been involved in protests urging for marriage equality for our fellow human beings. Shortly after the disappointing passage of proposition 8 in California there was a rally in SLC. I was not expecting many people to show up. When I arrived there were over 3,000 people at the rally fighting for humanity. It was an amazing thing to be apart of.

2.) When I was in Uganda there were so many sights of sad things. The people there however, were happy, friendly, welcoming, and surprisingly uplifting. There were people from all over the world giving their time to help whether it is volunteering in an orphanage, teaching school children, or giving money. There are people all over the world sacrificing to help others.

3.) I worked in drug and alcohol treatment and foster care for a while. While there were a lot of hard things to see, I found there to be even more inspirational things than bad. There were people accomplishing things (being clean, caring for their kids, graduating high school, coming to terms with abuse) that they never thought they would, and frankly not many people believed they would either. I saw amazing strength in kids whom had experienced things no adult should and not only survive, but thrive.

4.) Aside from witnessing some amazing things, there are also amazing little things in life that many of us take for granted. Things that I love doing or seeing that often times seem trivial. Coffee, cheese, fall leaves, warm fires, good friends and good conversation, guitar, reading, having a job, red wine, the ability to travel, and generally good times.

Rather than focus entirely on the bad, I am going to try my best and focus on the good. This is not to say that I will not be furious and disappointed with many of my fellow human beings. It is saying rather that I will continue to look for the inevitable good in people and things that I truly believe exist. I will continue to fight for a world in which I am not disheartened and that I can be proud to call my neighbor my friend and not foe. I will ultimately cling to my childish/naïve belief that the world is indeed a hopeful bright place and continue to turn over the rocks that seem to be burying much of its beauty.