The struggles of an empath, or an overly sentimental person like myself, are hard to explain most days. Chalk it up to the media to always report on some dark news in some dark corner of the world. It’s no wonder they used to be in the habit of ending things on a positive note; wrapping up the show with a heart-warming story. It’s funny I was able to pick up on this at around 8yrs old. My parents loved watching the news. I learned to dislike it very early on.
I avoided the news for a long time, but with social media, it became difficult to avoid even the worst of stories. Now, I’m not complaining about the current state of how fast news travels, there are certainly things we mustn’t hide from; injustice, persecution, and genocide, just to name a few. But it’s important for me is to remind myself to not be overwhelmed, jaded, and left disillusioned with this whole experiment I call “humanity.” I’m not sure if it’s sad, or in what way ‘telling’ that I keep a YouTube folder of my favorite uplifting moments. They’re the most ‘awe inspiring’ clips, the clips I watch whenever something is bothering me.
Two very important quotes come to my mind whenever I’m in this phase.
There’s a destructive urge in people, the urge to rage, murder,and kill. And until all of humanity, without exception, undergoes a metamorphosis, wars will continue to be waged, and everything that has been carefully built up, cultivated and grown will be cut
down and destroyed, only to start all over again!-Anne Frank
Those that cannot learn from history, are doomed to repeat it… another quote about history (George Santayana). And this is strikingly true for what some consider a civilization that suffers from amnesia. Be it religion or science, I think no matter what we fail to understand our origin. We forgot so much about the mistakes of our past as generations go by. Whether we blame this on our short lifespans, or our ignorance, this savage cycles repeats itself. It’s dark. It’s disenchanting. It’s sad. But I stop myself long enough to remember another quote, also by Anne Frank.
Despite all that has happened, I still believe people are really good at heart.
-Anne Frank
There’s a capacity there… to do good. To do the right thing. It’s in these small, minuscule, grain-like moments, like the flash of a dying star in the depths of space that we become giants. Giants for our humanity. Giants for our kind. There is so much there and it sometimes brings me to tears to have witnessed the moment–graced by something so beautiful and so rare.
So, I leave you with this video, so you too can feel experience that moment.
httpv://youtu.be/dC9IZLFldQs?list=FLyyW8LIuGwiWX_3KCmqwYVw