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earlymorningechoesI’ve been struggling a lot recently with what feels like a childish revelation - that so many people enjoy being cruel to one another. It’s not like this is a new revelation. I’ve known this for a long time. But I am struggling with it right now.
And I also feel bad that the thing that really this discomfort/struggle to a head was a tweet asking people not to make fun of picky eaters, and a bunch of the replies saying “no, grow up.” I know that in the grand scheme of things, or even in the scheme of this week, this is such a small thing. But maybe that’s why it’s hitting me so hard? Because it’s coming against a backdrop of so much cruelty, and it’s personally relevant at literally every waking moment because there is always someone ready to comment on the way I eat, and and and.
It’s something I understand viscerally without having to see it on the news, on twitter, wherever. Obviously “don’t kill someone” also is, but the specifics are things I don’t know without more context. “Don’t be cruel to someone for the fact that their body sees food differently than yours” is, to me, such an obvious and simple thing that I can’t fathom how many people don’t have it in their mental deck.
The world doesn’t have to be so cruel. Why do people want power? Why does anyone want to have any power to hurt someone else? I literally had a conversation yesterday that came down to “you [meaning me] don’t want power, and that’s delightful and refreshing.”
We all have the capacity to do bad things, to hurt other people, to be cruel. There’s no such thing as a good or a bad person, only good or bad actions. And right now, I’m really struggling with the knowledge that so many people choose cruelty, of whatever sort.
I’ve been feeling really broken, childish, useless. Because I’m not very ambitious. I like calm, comfortable, safe things. I like to learn, but for the sake of learning, not to be better. I have overwhelming emotions and outbursts that can look like tantrums from the outside. But...I desperately don’t want to hurt people. I fail, sometimes. But I can’t imagine wanting to.
And I also feel bad that the thing that really this discomfort/struggle to a head was a tweet asking people not to make fun of picky eaters, and a bunch of the replies saying “no, grow up.” I know that in the grand scheme of things, or even in the scheme of this week, this is such a small thing. But maybe that’s why it’s hitting me so hard? Because it’s coming against a backdrop of so much cruelty, and it’s personally relevant at literally every waking moment because there is always someone ready to comment on the way I eat, and and and.
It’s something I understand viscerally without having to see it on the news, on twitter, wherever. Obviously “don’t kill someone” also is, but the specifics are things I don’t know without more context. “Don’t be cruel to someone for the fact that their body sees food differently than yours” is, to me, such an obvious and simple thing that I can’t fathom how many people don’t have it in their mental deck.
The world doesn’t have to be so cruel. Why do people want power? Why does anyone want to have any power to hurt someone else? I literally had a conversation yesterday that came down to “you [meaning me] don’t want power, and that’s delightful and refreshing.”
We all have the capacity to do bad things, to hurt other people, to be cruel. There’s no such thing as a good or a bad person, only good or bad actions. And right now, I’m really struggling with the knowledge that so many people choose cruelty, of whatever sort.
I’ve been feeling really broken, childish, useless. Because I’m not very ambitious. I like calm, comfortable, safe things. I like to learn, but for the sake of learning, not to be better. I have overwhelming emotions and outbursts that can look like tantrums from the outside. But...I desperately don’t want to hurt people. I fail, sometimes. But I can’t imagine wanting to.
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