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Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/books/item_id/2181458-Are-You-Listening/day/6-5-2020
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Rated: GC · Book · Emotional · #2181458

A journey of self-improvement - or not.

Sup? I'm Char.
You may know me from timeless classics such as
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I blog for things like
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30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS Open in new Window. (13+)
WDC's Longest Running Blog Competition - Hiatus
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Because real life isn't always roses and sunshine...
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[Embed For Use By Upgraded+]
Believin' all the lies that they're tellin' ya
Buyin' all the products that they're sellin' ya
They say jump and ya say "how high?"
Ya braindead, ya got a fuckin' bullet in ya head


June 5, 2020 at 5:00pm
June 5, 2020 at 5:00pm
#985069
Artist: The Cribs
Song: Be Safe
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"Blog City ~ Every Blogger's ParadiseOpen in new Window. Prompt: The Seven Social Sins are:

Wealth without work.
Pleasure without conscience.
Knowledge without character.
Commerce without morality.
Science without humanity.
Worship without sacrifice.
Politics without principle.

From a sermon given by Frederick Lewis Donaldson in Westminster Abbey, London, on March 20, 1925.― Frederick Lewis Donaldson. Do you think these social sins still apply? Why or Why not?


Short answer: yes.

Long answer: These social sins are everywhere we look. Wealth without work? How many wealthy people are old money? Commerce without morality... isn't that called capitalism? Worship without sacrifice? How many allegedly religious people have I met who don't follow any kind of moral compass preached by their religion? Politics without principle? *motions wildly at everything*

Today is a difficult day. Like many others I'm sure, I'm emotionally and mentally drained from everything. I mean, there are the regular stressors obviously, still haven't fully recovered from surgery, sleeping like utter shit, getting ready to move, and dealing with office politics at work. I can deal with all those things. Add onto it mass protests, civil unrest, racism, police brutality, a pandemic...

Gotta hand it to these protestors, they're little energizer bunnies. They're passionate as fuck and they want shit to change. We had, like, 8000 people peacefully marching through my neighborhood yesterday and I don't think it even got reported anywhere-- probably because nothing bad happened.

But more than anything, more than the protests and outliers who are looting, more than the blatant and continuous police brutality, more than our own president threatening to unleash our country's army against its own people... I am most exhausted by random, everyday people. The fact that pointing out that police brutality and racism are bad is somehow divisive just drains my soul.

I know this administration has emboldened the worst in people, but I never thought in my lifetime (or in any lifetime after me), that people would get defensive when you say that racism is bad. I mean, really, think about that. In 2010, if you said, "Hey, racism is bad." Can you imagine someone hearing that and being like, "Okay, first of all, how dare you?!"

You can't make this shit up. Can a Trump supporter explain to me why you're offended when someone points out racism in our country? Are you guys racist or something? *Confused*

"But what about-isms" have taken over 40% of our population and it's a mess. I'm not trying to soapbox on it again. I just want to point out how fucking exhausting these past few years have been. Seeing your country's flag in the back window of a vehicle and thinking, fuck, this person is probably racist... And being right about it. Having intelligent family members who are suddenly like, "Yeah, Trump shouldn't have done that BUT WHAT ABOUT HILLARY CLINTON'S EMAILS???" Pointing out that police are disproportionately killing minority groups and having people be like, "Well, maybe they shouldn't have been disrespectful to the random police harassment!"

This shit day in and day out for years is exhausting. It has made me so distrusting of others because apparently people were like this all along and were just barely hiding it beneath the surface. You can't even have a conversation with people. They take notes from the president and instantly gaslight you, deflect, deny any culpability, and then claim that they won without you even saying anything. They don't even need you in the room. You don't even need to be part of the conversation. They're the definition of trolls and they've pervaded every aspect of society.

It's really sad to me to see our society the way it is. I know I (and so many other people) have tried to understand and be openminded to those whose opinions differ from our own. I will always defend someone's right to think differently than me and I've always tried to put myself into other people's shoes and actively listen to them when they're explaining their perspective. This is the only way we can grow as a society.

Knowing that this method doesn't currently work is crushing. We'll never unify or understand each other this way. We're always going to be at odds with one another. Maybe some people don't care about that, but I do. It's hard for me to just dismiss an entire group (especially such a high percentage of people) that way. I'm like, there has to be something that I'm missing here, but I just can't find the pieces to put it together.

And they're no help at all because they'll just toss the puzzle on the ground, piss on it, and then, for some weird reason, claim victory.

So, alright, maybe I soapboxed a little. Wasn't intentional. My point is that this is just an incredibly difficult time for everyone, and I'm not immune to that. As someone who already has mental health issues, I have trouble staying positive when we aren't facing all the external issues that we are now. Not being able to understand something, no matter how hard I work at bridging the gap, is frustrating.

My brain feels like it's working through molasses with all of this.

Let's take life and slow it down incredibly slow
Frame by frame


© Copyright 2023 Charlie ~ (UN: charlieabney at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
Charlie ~ has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.

Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/books/item_id/2181458-Are-You-Listening/day/6-5-2020