The world is broken. People are hurt and people are hungry. There are so many divides. There is so much being said and no one is listening. The truth is hard to piece together and intentional chaos reigns. For much of it I have been silent— paralyzed by the magnitude of hatred, violence and divisiveness, the toxicity. How in the world do we combat this? What are the right words? What is the right thing to do? What is the solution? How will this end? Will there ever be some semblance of peace, at the very least understanding? Thinking about it was and is overwhelming. But I have somethings to say, some thoughts scribbled, ideas laying around, poems written. They're there.
I know I cannot solve all of these problems. I would not even begin to try. But instead of thinking about all of it, I have been thinking, what can I do? Continuing to do nothing was not the option for me.
Lately I have been in this space where I have had an uncontrollable need to write. I know that the best life guide sometimes, most times, are your instincts. So, I am going to follow it. The world is broken and one of my strongest gift is writing and that is what I am going to do. I do not know who these writings will reach. I do not know what outcome these writings will produce, but I am hoping that from them we all can find a common ground, or at least a middle ground, where we can connect and go from there. I hope there are discussions that end in laughter still even though we disagree.
And even if those things do not happen, that will be fine too.
Toni Morrison summed it up well when she said:
"This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.
I know the world is bruised and bleeding, and though it is important not to ignore its pain, it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence. Like failure, chaos contains information that can lead to knowledge — even wisdom. Like art."
Let’s heal.
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