But What if We All Just Cared a Little?
I am growing tired of being told not to care about 'x' because 'y' is also a problem.
Today I am writing to your from my childhood home. It feels strange to be sitting here in the living room where I dream about growing up and being somebody, doing something. I did. I am. I am a somebody! And I do stuff!
If I could tell that little girl that she would someday be sitting on her parents couch typing away at her computer for her blog, she would be gagged. Now, I don’t need her to know we only have 43 subscribers, she has yet to learn that size doesn’t matter. We are a quality over quantity kind of a person.
I have throughout my posts on here mentioned bits and pieces of the ongoing genocide in Gaza and its impact on my life as an American. I cannot stress enough how little the effect it has on me matters, I share in solidarity. People here in Ohio, and all of America, have yet to see the connections it seems.
Months ago I wrote in my small town’s Facebook group seeing if anyone would be interested in gathering in solidarity of the world, specifically the Palestinians. Most responded with slurs and cruelty, which was to be expected. What was surprising was the number of people who felt the need to tell me that there are plenty of people here, in Northeast Ohio, that need help and I should focus on them instead. Sentiments like this confuse the fuck out of me I must say.
In this past election, New York State voted to ratify abortion into their state constitution. Idiots that I grew up with felt the need to tell other residents of the state that the person elected president doesn’t matter because NY saved abortion. They are all good, all safe. What this very myopic view doesn’t include is the women in other states of this country who are dying from lack of access to abortion.
We’re good at finding reasons not to care. Good at telling each other what to care about. Incredible at turning a blind eye and focusing on what we have. “Just be grateful, there are children starving in Africa”. What if we didn’t just tell our kids to be grateful? What if we went beyond. What if we could be grateful and recognize that we could be better too? What if gratitude could be turned into action?
I have been experimenting with this alchemy of gratitude.
I love showers. Long. Hot. Steamy showers. Growing up I would shower so long that the moisture in the air caused the wallpaper to pull away from the wall. I love washing my hair, soaking it in conditioner, allowing a mask to rehydrate and then brushing it under the water. Hour long showers are an unnecessary luxury that I no longer take part in. I have no need.
Instead I sit with my gratitude. I start with the air in my lungs. Then I move to my body, how it has carried me, held me. I turn my gratitude to the water. The water that makes me, allows me to be, and that cleanses me. What a gift it is to wash and care for this beautiful body of mine. This is where the magic begins.
Suddenly, this shower isn’t about some long escape from reality, boiling myself into submission. This shower is a sanctuary for me to care for and clean my physical form. It is an honor to have access to. Something else that shifts is my mindset on time. Something I have learned since beginning my mediation practice is that time is man made. When we are in the moment, time is infinite. Somehow I am able to wash myself, honor my body and relax in a fraction of the time it used to take. And I am cleaner. I am connected. I am more within myself.
I know my 5 minute showers are going to save enough water to make an impact. Just like I know that picking up that one piece of litter won’t make all the litter in the world go away. Just like I know that me sharing about what is happening in Gaza will never be enough to end it.
But imagine if we all shared just a little?
I think the noise of a million whispers is louder than one scream.
I also think that it is a lot less scary to join in when we are whispering, this is how we gain traction. Traction to eventually create action and change.
Here’s to whispering together, here’s to the low rumble that comes before the blaring booms of thunder.
Thank you for being here and reading. Below I am providing some links for resources to make and impact, big and small. Be kind and be love.
GoFundMe to Help Save Fadi's Son
GoFundMe to Save Mohammad's Family in Gaza
GoFundMe to Save Bsmala's Family in Gaza
GoFundMe to Save Aya's Family in Gaza
Operation Olive Branch's One Click Email Link