the Critic’s Ego

Dear Me,

Having multiple different discussions over the last couple days themed on society, government, and various entities of mass responsibility, I then came across this quote again and it humbled me a bit.

“Being a critic is easy.
But if the critic tries to run the operation, he soon understands that nothing is as easy as his criticisms. Criticism without a solution is merely an inflation of the critic’s ego.”

–Haemin Sumin

Here is to Kindness, Love and Hope

Dear Me,

There is a poem by Kamand Kojouri that speaks of a “They” that consciously drives an agenda of divisiveness, hostility, paranoia, and fear. As I read the poem and contemplate the many layers and levels of who “They” just might include, I can not help but see “They,” at its most basic level, as a choice in mentality. It is the choice of consciously employing, or even casually perpetuating, aggression, oppression, division, hate, and fear. And this is done in everyday thoughts and in everyday actions and by everyday people. “They” could very well be you and me.

You see, we have choices in our actions. We can choose to perpetuate fear and paranoia, division, and distrust; or we can choose to perpetuate better qualities; qualities that mend and heal and nourish, and bridge. There is a choice. There is always a choice.

A specific line that stands out starkly to me is where it is said that “They want us to throw out our kindness, to conceal our love and bury our hope.” We have a choice. And we choose what is valuable to us. We choose what we cast away as useless and worthless, what we bury in our closets with the skeletons and what we hide in shame from the world. We choose what we tend to with caring hands, what we polish up with pride and place on our pedestal of value. We choose what we wear as our armor and shield, and what we wield as our tools and weapons.

My steadfast desires are that we, as humanity’s torchbearers, choose to use our kindness and find valuable the kindness that has been offered to us by others; that we shine our love proudly like a beacon for the lost; and that we not stomp on and snuff out hope; but rather that we fan the coals of hope into flames so bold that, as they build, they become a mighty fire that sweeps the earth.

– Original Dear Me Thought

They want us to be afraid.
They want us to be afraid of leaving our homes,
to barricade our doors and hide our children.
They aim to make us fear life!

They want us to hate.
They want us to hate the other,
to practice aggression and perfect oppression.
They aim to divide us all!

They want us to be inhuman.
They want us to throw out our kindness,
to conceal our love and bury our hope.
They aim to take all our light!

They think their brick walls
will separate us.
They think their damned bombs
will defeat us.

They are so ignorant they don’t understand
that my soul and your soul are old friends.
They are so ignorant they don’t understand
that when they cut you, I bleed.

They are so ignorant they don’t understand
that we will never be afraid,
we will never hate,
and we will never be silent.
Let life be only ours!

—Kamand Kojouri

Go On. Fail

Dear Me,

There is a formula to progress and success. It pretty much reads: Try. Fail. Examine. Refine. Try Again. Fail Again (but having gained inches, even feet, of progress). And so, Examine. Refine. Try Again. Repeat.

The point is that we never give up. We get back up. We try again. But every time we try again, we don’t just do the same thing, we don’t just do things the same way. The very definition of insanity, as Einstein would state, “is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” No. We examine where we went wrong. We examine how we could do better. We examine with curiosity, and without judgement. And from that we make changes, corrections, and apply. So go on. Fail.

–Dear Me Original Thought

ACT

Dear Me,

Today I implore upon you a crucial request, with a singular word: Act.

It has been said a great and many times, and way; from Sêneca who wisely noticed “The fool, with all his other faults, has this also, he is always getting ready to live;”  To Emerson who stated, “People are always getting ready to live but never living.” So, for all your dreaming, for all your planning, for all your excuses, stop. For a moment, stop. Even if it’s just for a single minute. And with that moment, that minute, choose to make action. Even if it’s small, seemingly minescule to the dream and plan, every day, stop, and make sure to start.

-Dear Me Original Thought