Compassion

I found freedom. It doesn’t come from holding a vast amount of material wealth or money. It doesn’t come from being selfish and mean. It doesn’t come from being alone and fighting tooth and nail to possess shit. It comes from opening your heart and being selfless, helping others survive. It starts with compassion.

I find it odd that we humans as a species have no problem in coming to the aid of an animal in need, such as a stray dog or cat, or at least what we think is an animal in need, but we can’t and in some cases will not help a human in need. The dog or cat could survive quite well on its own, but we have to save them, and we’ll walk past an elderly human asking for water or food. We’ll turn a blind eye to those who live below the poverty line. We’ll exclude them from joining those who have enough, and only those who take more than enough can be in the company of those who take more than what they need. The next world war won’t be between left and right, or democracy and communism. It’ll be between those who have and those who have not. But there’s a better way.

I keep saying that all eight billion of us are human beings. We’re here not by choice, but we’re all here trying to survive and be free while doing so. We don’t need money or material things to survive. We need each other. Our corrupted collective consciousness has yet to evolve past the idea of dominance and control we created thousands of years ago by thinking we have some exceptional value that no one else has. We began to believe that we are better than others, which is a false ideology born from ignorance. We don’t need to control each other; we need to have compassion and empathy. We need to respect each other and move away from hatred and division. These are small-minded and narrow-focused ideologies that no longer serve us.

I’m not you, you’re not me. We don’t think exactly the same, but we can agree on specific ideas. We can agree to disagree, too. We don’t have to occupy the same space, but we can share space. I respect everyone for their beliefs, and I love engaging in debate when our ideas don’t align. But that requires open-mindedness and a willingness to change our thoughts if we determine that’s necessary. I cannot force anyone to think anything they don’t want to think, but by engaging in open debate, I can persuade people to consider my perspective and see if it resonates with them. I have two ears and one mouth for a reason. I listen twice as much as I speak, and I only contribute when I believe I can add value to the conversation. I want to live in peace and harmony with everyone. I don’t want to hurt anyone, and I don’t want to get hurt. I think the solution is simple, and there’s no need to overthink it.

Help someone. Do something kind. Give what extra you might have to help someone in need. Be there for someone troubled. Pay it forward. Hold the hand of a person in despair and listen. Don’t offer advice. Listen and thank them for sharing. Opening one’s heart to others and the possibilities that stem from that love helps to lighten one’s spirits and realize a connection to everyone and everything else. Energetically, spiritually, if you like, intellectually, and in many cases physically.

Unfortunately, changing all of humanity's cultures will take a herculean effort to accomplish, changing the idea of domination, power, and opulence that have pervaded human minds for millions of years. We’ve abused our intellect, and the calm minds of eras gone by were silenced by zealots and often through the use of violence. Today, cancellation is the replacement of violence. How can we change this? How do we stop tens of thousands of years of madness?

Compassion, empathy, acceptance, tolerance, forgiveness, and above all, love are something we need to teach new generations to accept as their own ideologies. Yes, we can have peace and harmony once we’ve let go of the idea that greed and dominance are ok. Real freedom is within our reach. Freedom wears no clothes.