2021 is coming to a close, we don’t know what the future will look like yet but we can shape it based on our reflections of the past. As the world was consumed by the pandemic in the last two years, it’s given me much time to pause and reflect.
I’ve just turned 27, and I can feel I’ve matured a lot. I used to have an insane amount of positivity towards everything in life, but I can feel I have mellowed out now. I can see why as people age, they become grumpier and grumpier. There is a lot of injustices, and unfortunate realities that would make anybody rage.
Of course, as much as all that is terrible that exist, there is also a beacon of light, even if fragile, we mustn’t forget there is good in the world too. We can’t focus too much on the bad, but neither can we focus too much on the good. Focusing on the good will make us happy, but we will also become deliberately ignorant of all our problems- problems that won’t go away unless we take the steps to fix it.
We live in a world full of wondrous life, full of beauty in the mountains and the ocean, full of kindness in the individual beings that habit it. But the world is also full of hatred, greed, selfishness. It is not always black and white but different shades of grey. As much beauty as the world holds, I see the ugliness peeking through everyday.
We live in a world where people are more offended being called racist than have the courage to reflect on how they could contribute to injustice. We live in a world where people are more offended by a forgotten please and thank you than by sexism. We live in a world where BIPOC women who are confident and assertive threatens the notion of white superiority so they are labeled “aggressive” and “rude”.
We live in a world where BIPOC lives are disposable, and hence we don’t bat an eye when we hear of refugees and asylum seekers dying as they put everything on the line for a safer future for their children, or of police violences against yet another Indigenous person. We live in a world where for some, it’s normal to live everyday with the fear wondering if you’ll be alive tomorrow, wishing solely for a safe place to live, while for us, we have the liberty to take risks and play Russian roulette with our lives because we have the freedom to. We live in a world where vanquishing poverty is so close to being a reality, yet it’s so far away because those with the power to make the change are comfortable with the way things are.
We live in a world where it’s ok to laugh and ridicule a man who wants to put on a dress and heels. We live in a world where casual sexism, racism, homophobia is so normalised and ingrained into our society, that if you call it out, you’d be accused of madness. We live in a world where if you speak of injustices, there will be plenty who will try to clamp down on your throat until your voice can be heard no more.
We live in a world where we cling to positivity, we insist on seeing the bright side to everything even when there is a real problems that need to be fixed. We live in a world so drugged on positivity, when you try to fix those problems, people shatter and they accuse you of bringing negativity into lives. We live in a world where it’s not okay to talk about the climate crisis, mental health, misogyny, genocide, during the happy holidays because it is a time when we want to pretend everything is perfect.
Unfortunately nothing is perfect, the violence women, children and minorities face do not stop for the holidays. The slow death of our earth does not pause as we gather with family and friends for a season of fun. Unfortunately, constantly thinking of it, we will be exhausted by the enormous heap of work we need to work on as a society. But turning a blind eye and living in ignorant peace will definitely be more detrimental than anything else.
We need a balance between basking in all that is positive, happy, and thinking about the very real problems that happen everyday under our noses. It’s a fine balancing act, one slip and you could fall into a pit of ignorant denial, or a sea of depression. But it is necessary to be uncomfortable if there’s any hope for the world we live in.
If reading that made you uncomfortable, I challenge you to work on unravelling why it did. We don’t have to be bad people to have racist, sexist, homophobic, ableist, discriminative beliefs. All good people have some degree of these beliefs embedded into us from a young age. Not everything is black and white. I’m sure I’d be lying if I said I don’t have any of that. There is much to learn, we just need to open up our minds to what we might be doing wrong.
I’ve had a lot to reflect on as I turn 27. I reflected on the not so pretty things our world is full of. But I also feel a warm fuzzy feeling as I reflect on what a lucky human being I am. I didn’t decide on celebrating my birthday because I know as it’s close to Christmas, everybody wants to spend quality time with friends and family they treasure the most. Yet I am so lucky to have a friend who decided to spend the weekend with me, as busy as she is. I am lucky we stumbled onto a magical drumming party by the ocean. I am lucky after the party, when my car alarm wouldn’t shut up my friend came over and helped me disconnect it. I am lucky I got to slackfline with my friends. I am lucky there are people who thought about me enough they got me a gift, sent me messages or gave me a call.
There’s a lot that’s imperfect about the world. I acknowledge I am an incredibly blessed and privileged individual. As a single person, I can’t do much to make changes, but I sure do hope I can help one Afghan family be able to live somewhere peacefully without the fear of persecution. I hope that despite bureaucracies from our governments and a lack of NFP resources that prevent them from getting help, that one day, normal for them would be living without the expectation you may not live to see another day. I hope you; who have been so lovely to read to the end of this, would help me in that.
There is so much that is ugly, so much that needs fixing in this world that we live in. But as 2022 rolls around, we can try and take the steps towards a creating more good and beauty for the world.
Great content! Keep up the good work!
Thank you for the encouragement!