Dear World

Dear World

This letter comes to you with the intention of sharing a few things I have learned throughout my nearly forty years of life.

The most important lesson I have come to realize is that we’re all pretty much the same throughout our beautiful uniqueness. We all laugh and cry and love and hurt and live and die as our time comes around. Nothing we have done will change that. We all want approval and the things we do in this life are tiny screams saying, “Hey! I’m here! I want to be noticed and validated!” Our methods are different, but the meaning is all the same. When others are nasty to us, we may react differently, but inside we’re all trying to find a way to mend the scar that was left. Some cry, some hide, others yell and scream or cause harm to themselves or others. At the base of the crying and hiding and yelling and hurting, though, is always the simple truth that we are scarred, and scared, and finding a way to cover or cope. This is true for all of us, although we often don’t take the time to realize others are as afraid as we are. We all need validation. We all need love and hope and joy. We all fall apart in some way if it is not received.

Another thing I have learned is that we are both “one” in a singular sense and in a plural sense. One is both. We are alone and yet we are not ever alone. We are unique. There are no two people in the world who are exactly the same, and that is a miracle. We are singular in this way. Yet, we are plural in the sense that we are all bound together in this thing called life. Even when we are physically alone, or feel mentally alone, we are not apart from humankind. It swirls around us in full, constant motion and exists in our unconscious throughout our entire lives. It is not something that can be, or should be, escaped. We have different names for this phenomena in our different cultures and different religions and spiritualities, but it all comes down to the same simple truth that we are all connected and shall always be so.

Everything we do, as one individual in this magnificent world, affects all of the other beautiful individuals in this world. We may not see each thread that weaves through our actions that lead to another’s actions, but they are there, all the same. There is no escaping it. There is no hiding from the responsibility we have to ourselves and to others. The gorgeous, reverberating statement by John Kennedy pleading with us to “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country” needs to echo throughout the world. We need to, as a singular individual and as a plural collective, stop expecting to be taken care of, to be pandered to, to wait for “others” to take care of problems we see. We need to stop and realize that “we” are the “others” who can make the difference. Start small. Turn anger and frustration into a pleasant smile and friendly greeting to someone who seems to need a boost. That thread will continue. It will grow and evolve. Make one other soul’s pain decrease and the world’s pain will decrease.

Thank you for listening. Have a nice day.


Written for round 2 of "Invalid Item" 
April 13, 2006