"Being tender and open is beautiful. As a woman, I feel continually shhh'ed. Too sensitive. Too mushy. Too wishy washy. Blah blah. Don't let someone steal your tenderness. Don't allow the coldness and fear of others to tarnish your perfectly vulnerable beating heart. Nothing is more powerful than allowing yourself to truly be affected by things. Whether it's a a song, a stranger, a mountain, a raindrop, a tea kettle, an article, a sentence, a footstep, feel it all - look around you. All of this is for you. Take it and have gratitude. Give it and feel love." - Zooey Deschanel
One of the most important things to me is openness. (Hence the title of my blog). The ability to let people into your life, get to know them, build friendships, and treat each other with respect. I've written before about the beautiful ability to be good without God and religion. It's a very popular subject when people question my atheism. But instead of answering that again, I want to write with a different approach. It's all about perspective.
You know when you were little, and your mom or dad or sibling or teacher told you to be nice to your friends? That you should treat people the way you want to be treated? It sounds so basic, right? But for most of us, that got planted into our brains at a very young age. I think it's more complex than we see it. We learned how to live in society and be accepted.
Some people took that advice and did their best to live by it. Others might have lost that tenderness. But whatever the case is, we were born with hearts and feelings. I don't believe this is something that God gave us, but I do believe in morals. I believe that as humans, we are extremely lucky to be able to feel so many emotions. To learn the difference between what is right for the world and what is wrong.
The point is, we are all capable of being good.
It's sad when we discover how cold humans can be. It might break us down a little. Maybe a lot. But that happens every single day, unfortunately. And we can either give up our hope for humanity, or take it as it is and strengthen ourselves. After all, we are humanity. The way we are today, right now, is going to affect the ones who come after us. That's just how it is.
So get in touch with your emotions. Stand up for yourself. Don't let anybody try and tell you not to feel. And don't apologize for that. Pick your place in humanity.
One of the most important things to me is openness. (Hence the title of my blog). The ability to let people into your life, get to know them, build friendships, and treat each other with respect. I've written before about the beautiful ability to be good without God and religion. It's a very popular subject when people question my atheism. But instead of answering that again, I want to write with a different approach. It's all about perspective.
You know when you were little, and your mom or dad or sibling or teacher told you to be nice to your friends? That you should treat people the way you want to be treated? It sounds so basic, right? But for most of us, that got planted into our brains at a very young age. I think it's more complex than we see it. We learned how to live in society and be accepted.
Some people took that advice and did their best to live by it. Others might have lost that tenderness. But whatever the case is, we were born with hearts and feelings. I don't believe this is something that God gave us, but I do believe in morals. I believe that as humans, we are extremely lucky to be able to feel so many emotions. To learn the difference between what is right for the world and what is wrong.
The point is, we are all capable of being good.
It's sad when we discover how cold humans can be. It might break us down a little. Maybe a lot. But that happens every single day, unfortunately. And we can either give up our hope for humanity, or take it as it is and strengthen ourselves. After all, we are humanity. The way we are today, right now, is going to affect the ones who come after us. That's just how it is.
So get in touch with your emotions. Stand up for yourself. Don't let anybody try and tell you not to feel. And don't apologize for that. Pick your place in humanity.
