When I visit my folks, I often speak to my mom about politics and sociology. For the most part, she just listens, and I don't know if she is humoring me or absorbing what I say. But last weekend, we spoke about the recent shootings over the past several weeks, and I expressed my disappointment and depression regarding humanity.
I told her that the human race depresses me. What sets us apart from the animal kingdom is our ability to not act on violent urges and the nature of "hunting". We deny the urge to cause chaos and savagery. But when I see the violence, when I see the failings of empathy, of our evolution, it saddens me deeply.
We have been capable of wondrous, beautiful, and awe inspiring actions and creations. We're capable of doing the best for each other. We're capable of doing the best for our community. I know we are because we have.
Yet, our society thrives on the bleak, on tragedy and the darkest corners of humanity. The good is dubbed "human interest" or "fluff stories" by news outlets. We're enthralled by the horror of it all. We watch and wonder why. Why would someone do this? Because you boil us down, we are primordial, we are animalistic.
As depressed and disappointed I get, I force myself to remember the wonders we've created in arts, in medical advances, in society and toward perfect strangers. We are not lost. We are not this. We are better than this
Bring back the wonder. Inspire awe in one another. Let us create beautiful and wonderful things, not because of recent events, recent turmoil, but because it is what we are supposed to do.
