Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Life Comes at You Like a Wave

I am trying hard not to let what happened in Boston sink me deeper, sink me to the point where I give up on the goodness of the world. On the inherent goodness of people. This latest attack on people (I won’t call them innocents—aren’t all of us innocent to some degree?) makes me want to flee. But to where? Is there a safer place to live? A saner place?

I know that the horror I felt on Monday night, watching the news unfold, will fade. The images will blur around the edges, the facts become murky, the way a pond darkens as autumn leaves fall on its surface, then sink, rotting, to the bottom.

After all, what can I recall of Newtown?

I have hardened. I don’t like this quality, but I think it is part of human hardwiring, part of the armor which lets us survive. It is how we humans are evolving. In 100 years, or sooner, we will be a species with dexterous thumbs and a missing empathy gene.

After living half a decade I can discern good from evil, hopeful from hopefulness. But my children cannot, or at least not so well, and I can only imagine how the continued onslaught of horrible and ugly and villainous and tragic affects them. It makes me wonder if the decrease in our mental health--and the increase of our drinking and drugging and gunning—is our Darwinian desire to not feel the pain. Peace...

2 comments:

  1. A great deal to ponder in your piece, Linda. Very well written and heart felt.
    I, too, wonder about the youth, but I see in them the same hope, love and optimism that has always defined the best of being human, and know they will find a way to overcome the madness. It makes me very sad though, that their innocence is blown away by some misguided angry person. One thing I try to do is help them focus on our world's natural beauty. It is a constant in these crazy times. ((hugs all around))

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  2. I do hope you are wrong about our atrophying empathy gene, but fear otherwise. And without it, are we still human? I don't believe so, I think we will lose much that is good along with it.

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