Solidarity

Children are not safe. Let me get back to that. Loneliness is not a passive emotion. It does not just appear but rather, it convinces you. While the choice is yours, that should not mean that we all dismiss it, ignore it or remain oblivious to it. Yet, the sad truth is that when a person has become convinced of their loneliness, they then convince the world around them as well. Now let me tell you how this blog's title and its opening statement factor in. While I lead quite a full life and thoroughly blessed, I have my reasons for hearing that call heard by the lonely. We're not talking about a "I have nothing to do tonight and no one to do it with" lonely either in case that is what's on your mind. When I declare my solidarity with this particular group of people, I do so while standing amongst those convinced of and therefore oblivious to their condition. I remain as mindful as I can be despite my own natural aversion to that state of mind.

Now, where do the children come in? Why are they not safe? It was once said to me that most people settle into who they are and will be for the rest of their life by the time high school is over. This does not mean that things stop happening to you. It just means that, for better or worse, your basic set-up is established and you're on your own. All common sense always then used to dictate that until such time, we so-called adults are supposed to cover the children. In part, this particular thread of the blog came about upon hearing reactions to the recent suicide of an Irish teen who took her own life due to "excessive bullying". See, I believe I structured that sentence to reflect the proper order of importance. Upon hearing the story, my focus settled on the girl's suicide. In my mind, this occurrence should be cause for pause. But when I have to hear people, adults, say things such as "When I was a kid, I got bullied and I didn't hang myself.", I shudder just a little bit. I almost imagine them saying that while the kid is hanging in front of them or does the always increasing distance from humanity provide the disconnect necessary to form such a thought? Children are not safe. If we can intercept terrorist communications and still be attacked from within, a la Fort Hood, what sort of urgency does the cries for help preceding a teen suicide have? Just a few days ago, the anniversary of Columbine passed us all by rather unnoticed and that couldn't be more fitting.

Our refusal to evolve as adults is literally killing us AND our children. The solidarity I refer to in this blog may be with the lonely and forgotten. It may be with the young people who are reaching out and grasping air. But don't you see? Solidarity is the whole point. Look around you. These children are everywhere. The lost are everywhere. The lonely are everywhere. You or I might not be stopping terrorists anytime soon but all it takes to stop the rain from falling on these people is to let them in. It's their party too.

"I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together." John Lennon

"The fundamental delusion of humanity is to assume that I am here and you are out there." Yasutani Roshi