joyful2beeblogs

This blog post was written by Josaiawrites (Jo of “I’m Not Dead Yet” blogs. The link to the original is:

https://josaia.com/2924/11/13/how-do-we-heal-this-division/

I feel sad about the deep division in our country. I don’t want to debate political views here, as we have had enough of that recently. I want us to come back together, as Americans, and as humans on this planet trying to do the best that we can.

There is pain on all sides. There are needs and wants and wishes on all sides.

What I think we don’t have to do is come to hate each other, to see our neighbors as “other,” to call each other names, insult each other, and sometimes even come to the point of physically hurting each other.

I think we can do better, that we are better than this. Maybe this is naive and idealistic. So be it. It is my hope. It is something that I must hang onto.

We are all fellow Americans. We are neighbors, friends, acquaintances, people you see in the coffee shop, people going to their jobs, trying to support their families. It has been hard to do that for a while, to provide for your family, and this causes frustration and anger. I understand that.

I don’t think that it adds to any solution to try to blame each other, spew mean comments at each other, or arm ourselves against each other. We all have families that we love and want to take care of. We are all striving to do what we can.

It’s hard for some to feel their power being taken away, to feel devalued and made to feel less than, to have decisions about themselves taken out of their own hands and to not be trusted to make decisions for their own lives.

It’s scary to feel like you may die because you cannot get medical care.

It’s hard to have family in wars in other parts of the world and feel hatred coming toward your people, your tribe, from others who do not know any of you or those that you love. There is much pain on both sides of the wars, the children crying, the hunger, the people holding their dead, sobbing.

It’s scary to feel that others may be coming into the country to hurt you, with leaders feeding this fear, which then makes it easier to think that all those who come from somewhere else intend to hurt you.We all, unless you are Native American/Indigenous, come from immigrants. We come from families who wanted better for their children and were willing to go to great lengths and sacrifice to try and get that.

We become afraid of those who may be different than us. There are those who may not feel at home in their bodies, who struggle to try and express who they really feel themselves to be. Who, if they could, would choose to go through such pain and suffering to try and express this if they had another choice?How painful it must be for them to feel the hatred and disgust coming toward them, to feel like they have to hide, be careful where they go and truly express who they are.

We have distanced ourselves from this beautiful earth and its creatures, forgetting that it is our job to take care of and preserve this for those yet to come. We are all humans on this planet, sharing its beauty and resources. It is up to us to take care of our precious earth and all of its inhabitants.

How do we come back together?

I don’t want to hate you, and I don’t want you to hate me. We are Americans. We can get back to being proud of that, of ourselves, of each other, of the beautiful mix of everything that can make Americans special.

We can ask our leaders to step up as well. They can debate, express opinions, and have us choose whom we will, but not have to resort to creating enemies out of anyone who may not agree with them. Kindness does not mean weakness. And anger and hate never work well in the long run. Let us hold our leaders accountable to try and call up the best in us. Let’s listen to what they say and believe them when they tell us who they are, how they treat others, and the messages that they give us. Let’s discern what comes from hatred and division, and what comes from an intention of unifying us, even if imperfectly. Let us see the leader and not the color or gender, but rather the message, to really hear what is being said.

I am tired of seeing the map divided into red and blue zones. Our flag is red, white and blue, all together, all representing the United States of America. Let’s find our way back to each other and to our home in this country that we all share and love. We are not the enemy within. We are humans struggling to do what we can. I believe that our core, past all the fears that have been stoked, is love and kindness and I want to, and must, believe that we can come back to this.