I consider myself to be a simple person. My mind might be complex and a bit zany, but I don't consider myself a complicated person. I have simple needs, and I'm okay if you take the last cookie or finish off the ice cream. It's not a big deal — I can always make more cookies or get more ice cream, or I can just go without.
I've been very lucky in that from an early age I was able to recognize what was truly important to me. I think this probably has a lot to do with my mom being sick with cancer for so long and passing away when I was 24. The whole experience gave me great perspective and helped me to easily let go of things that, in the grand scheme of things, really weren't all that important, and to focus on the things and the people that were.
I'm not a fan of drama and I loathe confrontations. I will do anything I can to avoid them. They're such messy affairs and people just end up being hurt. I'm not saying that you shouldn't stand up for what you believe in, because that's incredibly important — I guess I'm just someone who likes to lead by example instead of shouting it in someone's face.
I believe in kindness. I believe in opening the door for someone and waiting my turn in line. I believe that showing someone compassion and empathy is an important gift to those who are hurt and in pain. It's so easy to be kind and caring, yet we live in a world where people spit and cough on each other to protest wearing a mask and protecting lives. I just don't understand it.
I just don't understand the intense cruelty that exists in our world and that some people take great joy in exploiting others for their own gain, or even worse, just for the fun of it. The world doesn't have to be such a complicated place. I'm a human, you're a human — that makes us very much equal. No one is 'more' human than anyone else, so I fail to see where the argument and justification for inequality exists.
I watched a video this week of a white police officer in the United States kneeling on the neck of an African American man named George Floyd. Floyd pleaded with the officer to stop because he couldn't breathe, but the officer didn't care. Floyd later died in hospital. That officer murdered Mr. Floyd. And for what? He was suspected of writing a bad cheque. 'Suspected' of writing a bad cheque.
I am so tired of white people being horrible. It makes me sick to my stomach — and yes, I am a white woman. It has to stop. As a white woman, I live a privileged life. I know that, and I recognize the advantages afforded me in my life through no special doing of my own.
I can't even pretend to know what it is like to be a non-white person, and I have no business speaking on behalf of any of you. All I can do is listen when you speak and stand up and support you in the fight for equality. I can open up my eyes, my ears, and my mind and try to learn as much as I can — and call out others for their ignorance and disgusting racial behaviour.
I love eating Smarties. In Canada, Smarties are these little candy-coated bits of chocolate and they are so delicious. Each box contains a rainbow of colours that are so pretty to look at when they are in the palm of your hand. And while some may be red or yellow or green or blue, when you crunch off the candy coating, guess what? The centre of every single one of them is chocolate.
At their heart, they are all the same — just like us. Life is hard enough as it is. We all have our troubles and our struggles and our stories, and that's what makes us human beings. We are more alike than we are different, yet it's the differences that people focus on the most.
So be it then, let's focus on those differences. The differences that make us unique as individuals. Let's focus on the gifts each one of us has and how we can use those gifts to make the world a better place. Maybe the world is too much to ask. How about just for your neighbour or the person at the grocery store?
Focus on giving the gift of kindness. The gift of empathy. The gift of decency and understanding to ALL walks of life. All the colourful Smarties in the box get along just fine — why can't we?
Like I said, I consider myself to be a simple person who likes simple things. I don't like to complicate things that shouldn't be complicated, and call me crazy, but I don't see treating people with love, respect, and equality as being all that complicated.
Maybe that's just me — but I sure as hell hope not. For all our sakes.