There is so much going on in this universe right now. I think there always has been but we are more privy to it than ever before. Many images and perspectives I’ve seen, especially over these last 6-8 months, have definitely evoked some emotions within myself related to my experience with these “perspectives” that I see day in and day out. There have truly been too many to count that I’ve deemed simply unfair and unrealistic. So I want to give a perspective about some things that I hope will at least urge you to take some time to think. I ask that you ATTEMPT to peel back the boundaries of your mind and your thinking. My hope is that it could bring some clarity for even one person about the truth and about reality and humanity as we know it.
One of the topics I’d like to talk about is what’s happening with people who call this country home but were not born as a citizen here in the United States. I recently saw an AI generated image that depicted a Mexican man holding up a Mexican flag at a protest as he was screaming “fuck America.” The next slide of this image had this man getting arrested while saying “no, please don’t make me go back.” This upset me because it’s just a very unrealistic, black and white, obtuse perspective about what’s happening. I commented this on that post.
Just another perspective to think about, being a social worker over the course of 10 years and working in a mental health facility, I encountered countless people who were not documented here in the US and came here for opportunity, their safety, and their well being. I’ve sat across from young children who came here to live with a relative because their parent was brutally murdered in front of their eyes, asking them to tell me their story so that I could ATTEMPT to help them break free from the crippling fear and anxiety that something like that may happen to them. Out of all of those years working with every single person I have that was not born here, not one person said fuck America. Or even remotely gave me any inclination that they they didn’t feel so fortunate to be in a better circumstance versus the one they came from, even while experiencing the trauma they were and the symptoms that came along with it. These were real life people. That I could hear, see, hug, and love. They weren’t an AI generated image created for clicks and hateful division. I also don’t believe people are waving Mexican or other international flags to say fuck America but rather that they are proud of where they are from and feel they deserve to be here just like the rest of us. I don’t know about you but I didn’t ask to be born into the life I was born into. I’m so very fortunate for what I’ve been given and for what I’ve always had. People in dire, tragic, and dangerous circumstances didn’t have a choice in what life they were born into either. I hope this gives a little more depth into what’s actually happening across our country and why many people, young and old, that weren’t born here have come here and have been here for many decades. I can’t imagine myself or anyone that may read this would have fond memories of their experiences from a place they fled to stay alive and feel secure within their existence. All that to say, I feel having the perspective that immigrants depict this picture is wildly unfair and unrealistic. Completely based on my personal experience with actual human beings I’ve gotten to know over the course of months and years.
Something else that’s been weighing on me is black and white perspectives of abortion. I hear so many people correlate abortion and the term “killing babies.” Let me give you a perspective about what I think of when I hear the term “killing babies.” A child being born into a family who’s mother was impregnated by their relative and social services didn’t or couldn’t do one single thing about that. Please tell me about the quality of life of that child and the mother and how it could be inherently good and positive. Please. Well let me break it down for you. It won’t. It will be a life filled with fear, hate, anxiety, depression, anger, and suicidal thoughts. And before anyone says this child could be adopted. Do you know how many children are waiting to be adopted? How do you feel when you yearn for the love of someone you care about? That yearning can make us sick sometimes. Think about being a child yearning simply for security and safety. I wonder what that yearning does to a young body and mind and how they may come to grow as a human. These circumstances are happening MUCH, MUCH more than you could fathom. I mean 10-fold. So before you throw this blanket, black and white ideation onto abortion and what it means to you, think. Abortion should be available as a RESOURCE. Not a cop out. Not an escape from a mistake. A resource for humanity.
Please, try to peel back your ways of thinking if possible. There is so much more depth and so many nuanced idealistic pathways to look at some of these issues that some of us may think are more simple than they’ve ever been.
I’m truly only scratching the surface of how intricate and complex these issues and perspectives are and can be.
I’m not here to argue with anyone about these things. And I’m simply not going to. My perspectives about the world and humanity are rooted in grace and love. At the end of the day, it’s our choice to pick the compass in which we walk, behave, and treat others. I can’t say that the foundation laid by my parents and loved ones didn’t have a giant impact on my compass and perspectives. With that, maybe we should all think about the foundations we are all laying for the people we are responsable for and whose lives we touch. Even further - the people who are just trying to find a sense of safety and humanity even if they aren’t someone who you thought you could sit next to and hold hands with before.
One of the topics I’d like to talk about is what’s happening with people who call this country home but were not born as a citizen here in the United States. I recently saw an AI generated image that depicted a Mexican man holding up a Mexican flag at a protest as he was screaming “fuck America.” The next slide of this image had this man getting arrested while saying “no, please don’t make me go back.” This upset me because it’s just a very unrealistic, black and white, obtuse perspective about what’s happening. I commented this on that post.
Just another perspective to think about, being a social worker over the course of 10 years and working in a mental health facility, I encountered countless people who were not documented here in the US and came here for opportunity, their safety, and their well being. I’ve sat across from young children who came here to live with a relative because their parent was brutally murdered in front of their eyes, asking them to tell me their story so that I could ATTEMPT to help them break free from the crippling fear and anxiety that something like that may happen to them. Out of all of those years working with every single person I have that was not born here, not one person said fuck America. Or even remotely gave me any inclination that they they didn’t feel so fortunate to be in a better circumstance versus the one they came from, even while experiencing the trauma they were and the symptoms that came along with it. These were real life people. That I could hear, see, hug, and love. They weren’t an AI generated image created for clicks and hateful division. I also don’t believe people are waving Mexican or other international flags to say fuck America but rather that they are proud of where they are from and feel they deserve to be here just like the rest of us. I don’t know about you but I didn’t ask to be born into the life I was born into. I’m so very fortunate for what I’ve been given and for what I’ve always had. People in dire, tragic, and dangerous circumstances didn’t have a choice in what life they were born into either. I hope this gives a little more depth into what’s actually happening across our country and why many people, young and old, that weren’t born here have come here and have been here for many decades. I can’t imagine myself or anyone that may read this would have fond memories of their experiences from a place they fled to stay alive and feel secure within their existence. All that to say, I feel having the perspective that immigrants depict this picture is wildly unfair and unrealistic. Completely based on my personal experience with actual human beings I’ve gotten to know over the course of months and years.
Something else that’s been weighing on me is black and white perspectives of abortion. I hear so many people correlate abortion and the term “killing babies.” Let me give you a perspective about what I think of when I hear the term “killing babies.” A child being born into a family who’s mother was impregnated by their relative and social services didn’t or couldn’t do one single thing about that. Please tell me about the quality of life of that child and the mother and how it could be inherently good and positive. Please. Well let me break it down for you. It won’t. It will be a life filled with fear, hate, anxiety, depression, anger, and suicidal thoughts. And before anyone says this child could be adopted. Do you know how many children are waiting to be adopted? How do you feel when you yearn for the love of someone you care about? That yearning can make us sick sometimes. Think about being a child yearning simply for security and safety. I wonder what that yearning does to a young body and mind and how they may come to grow as a human. These circumstances are happening MUCH, MUCH more than you could fathom. I mean 10-fold. So before you throw this blanket, black and white ideation onto abortion and what it means to you, think. Abortion should be available as a RESOURCE. Not a cop out. Not an escape from a mistake. A resource for humanity.
Please, try to peel back your ways of thinking if possible. There is so much more depth and so many nuanced idealistic pathways to look at some of these issues that some of us may think are more simple than they’ve ever been.
I’m truly only scratching the surface of how intricate and complex these issues and perspectives are and can be.
I’m not here to argue with anyone about these things. And I’m simply not going to. My perspectives about the world and humanity are rooted in grace and love. At the end of the day, it’s our choice to pick the compass in which we walk, behave, and treat others. I can’t say that the foundation laid by my parents and loved ones didn’t have a giant impact on my compass and perspectives. With that, maybe we should all think about the foundations we are all laying for the people we are responsable for and whose lives we touch. Even further - the people who are just trying to find a sense of safety and humanity even if they aren’t someone who you thought you could sit next to and hold hands with before.
