Just a Day...

I cannot wait for all of my friends to be together again!!!

I absolutely love you all.

let’s all be humorous and humor each other.

Strength

I think a lot of people confuse strength with avoiding emotion. Like, they think that if someone doesn’t reveal the feelings that threaten to make them seem weak, then they are strong. But I think strength is best defined as the ability to feel emotion and to cope with life at the same time. Hell, not cope, but to go on living. Truly living. If you go through hell and are able to come out with the sunlight still shining at the corners of your eyes, then you’re strong. Strength is about feeling every ounce of sadness—every sharp prod of pain, every burning tear, and allowing it to take over for the moment, but not allowing it to define your future. I have yet to experience true hardship, but I think it’s a part of everyone’s life, and when it’s my turn, I hope I can exemplify strength as well as those around me. It’s them I admire the most.

It’s human to cry—to have your face crinkle and wrinkle and crumble in pain. It’s raw and feeling, and I think…releasing.

Spread a little love my way.

Equals Should be Treated Equally

As Black History month nears, and with Martin Luther King Day this past week, I’ve been thinking a lot about the way white people (Caucasian for you “politically correct” people) treat minorities. It’s challenging writing this because I don’t want to offend anyone, but at the same time, this is coming from my historical knowledge, observation, and conversation; please, correct me if I am wrong.

Throughout my day, I interact with a diverse group of people—African Americans, Asians, Middle Eastern, etc. There’s diversity in my classrooms (though still, mostly white). there’s diversity on the buses, at work, at stores, everywhere. But it wasn’t always like this. Fifty years ago, we (the United States) were just beginning to overcome absurd prejudices against minorities. Can you believe that black people were spit on, beaten, verbally assaulted, threatened, and considered to be the lowest of the low, because of the color of skin?

I can’t express in words the confusion and disbelief I feel when I think about this way of life, and how much more confusing it must have been, and still is, for those who were/are treated that way. To feel human, is to be human— no matter where you’re from, no matter what you look like, no matter how you speak or what you believe—and in each of us is an innate sense to be accepted and to be respected and loved.

I can’t say that we have overcome this prejudice, even though it’s 2012 and we’re fully integrated, and our President is African American—the truth is, it still exists. Racial jokes and stereotypes are fluent throughout our nation. Discrimination exists whether it is legal or not; it’s in our attitudes and the back of our minds—I myself struggle with stereotypes and judgments, but I’m working to eliminate them. My goal is to see every person the way God sees each person—with love and with respect to the feelings, gifts, and dreams within each individual.

I hope that this note, although long, will encourage you all to appreciate what we as a nation have overcome, and what we have left to complete in order to treat every human being humanely.

Thanks for reading :)

Friendly Debate…

In Ethics today, we discussed the legalization of drugs—marijuana, cocaine, LSD—and whether or not it is morally acceptable for the government to prohibit these drugs from use.

Any thoughts?