humanity
For better or for worse, relationships reveal the core of the human condition.
Angels in America
No, I am not talking about Tony Kushner’s play Angels in America, even though it’s one of the greatest plays ever written. I am talking about the Angels I encounter on the streets of Los Angeles. The dark and the dreary images of these helpless and trapped souls are frightening yet there’s something peaceful about them. As I walk down the streets of Downtown L.A from Wednesday to Sunday on my way to work, I have acquainted myself to some of these unnamed bodies. One I call the “bleeding footman." Underneath the squalor, grubbiness and filth lies the face of a young man in his early twenties whose eyes are shrouded with anguish but with a glimmer of hope, his face tangled with untamed beard yet I see a twitch of smile. He is lost but not lost in despair and discouragement but in his own happiness. Picking at his dry wound on his foot which looked like it’s eternally bleeding but at the same time finding it’s own way to heal. Life is full of contradictions and ironies.
By Faith The Blogger7 years ago in Humans
The Forgotten Hurricane
Originally Published on April 16, 2017 With all of the bad weather talk and scares going on here in the great state of Alabama, it brings me back to a weather emergency that I experienced. I thought I’d share my recollection of events. The rest of the country loves to talk about Hurricane Katrina, nobody seems to remember the one that affected some of our lives in Lake Charles, Cameron, and Sulphur the most though… which were equally as terrible, just a different type of destruction. Some of you know which one I’m talking about, the forgotten hurricane… Rita. Which by the way, was only a few weeks after Katrina, and affected the Katrina victims that had fled to our town. (Double doozie.) Every time people find out where I’m from, they automatically assume that I must have been affected by Katrina and they love to talk about it. I always get a little annoyed. There is more to Louisiana than the wonderful city of New Orleans. There have been way more natural disasters than the one. I’m not saying that it wasn’t a horrific event, because it most certainly was. I’m just saying that for some of us, we experienced something similar that was not as publicized.
By Just Another Pretty Face7 years ago in Humans
What Is This Agonizing Place?
There was a pure disgust present in the air. I was about to leave social security administration building. Everyone inside and around was clearly frustrated. Even the security at the entrance seemed like they just don’t want to see another human face.
By Toni Koraza7 years ago in Humans
It's Not Okay
I'll start by telling you a little about us. I was an 18-year-old high school track athlete with an extremely popular boyfriend. Everyone was a fan of his, no matter how much of a jerk he could be. We had been together for about two years, off and on, of course. Our families didn't like the fact that we were seeing each other, due to the fact that we would always choose each other over anything else. We both mentally hurt eachother, mainly with our words. However, he would use actions too, such as cheating and lying. We were high school kids who thought we were in love.
By Ashley Sulak7 years ago in Humans
Life of an Empath
I hate labels. Labels are a way for people to make themselves feel like they understand something when they really don't. Nevertheless, there are similarities among us, and words are allowed to help us identify a group with those similarities. The word I'm talking about now is someone we like to call: "empaths."
By Trai Greer7 years ago in Humans
The Day I Died
The day was perfect. The sun was shining and the birds singing while the wind had finally settled down. My roommate, Amy, and I were driving to town and singing along to the radio when I rounded a corner and immediately saw a car coming right at me, passing on a curve, and then he swerved to avoid me but hit the car behind him, spinning it around until it hit our car. The impact tossed our car and it rolled three times before coming to a stop off the side of the road.
By Denise Willis7 years ago in Humans
Hating People
These past few years have been very painful; people I never would've imagined leaving, did; the things I never thought someone could use against me, were. But, I’ve learned something new about myself through all of the pain; I really just want to love everybody. I never would have hated him, no matter how much everything hurt. I can’t hate anybody. When my mom was killed, I did hate my dad for taking her from me. I hated him for years, until I realized I wasn’t getting anywhere; I didn’t even have anything tangible to hate anymore. There was no point in hating someone who had died, I wasn’t getting anything out of my anger. After realizing this, I couldn’t hate anyone anymore. I couldn’t rationalize hating the boy that lied to me for four years, but not hating the man that took my mother from me. It didn’t feel right. And after being lied to for years, how could I hate the next boy that only lied for a few weeks? I couldn’t find someone worthy of hating, which sounds odd but is true. So, I don’t hate. I can’t hate; and I think that’s what makes everything so confusing. People will hurt me, they’ll tell me to kill myself and I still can’t hate them. Day after day, I would wake up to messages detailing why I didn't deserve to be alive. Every day was just a waiting game for when the next message would come in. These people would use my past relationships and my parent's deaths against me. They'd tell me that no one would miss me and that I was ugly. Before bed, I'd get messages begging for that night to be the night I finally killed myself, in the morning I'd get greeted with disappointment that I didn't follow through with their suggestions from the night before. They convinced me everyone in my life hated me and were only in it because they felt bad for me. I received list after list, detailing how I could go about ending my life, or reasons why I should leave. Yet, I still have love for them. I still want to know who made them hurt this bad. I want to be their friend, I want to heal that hurt. So, I let them continue to push me down, because I know I can handle it. Life’s thrown me some killer curveballs, but I haven’t struck out yet (I don't understand baseball fully but I believe that metaphor works). Does what they say hurt? Yes. It hurts a lot. Will I kill myself over their words? No. I cannot imagine writing a note and telling my loved ones I’m no longer with them because an anonymous number told me to stop breathing. But, I was still hurting myself. I was letting these people validate everything I was telling myself, and in a way, I loved it. I was right, all the thoughts in my head were showing up on my phone screen. Was it healthy? Absolutely not. Just because I was still alive didn’t mean I was okay, I was simply alive because I didn’t want to die for a dumb reason. When the numbers told me that someone hated me, I cut myself from that person’s life. When they told me to eat less, I did. When they said to cut, I did. I was miserable, but never once did I want to report them. I didn't want them to get in trouble, because I believed this was how they needed to work through their problems. If I wasn't going to kill myself because of their words, what was the harm in letting them continue? I couldn’t block them because then they couldn’t heal, and that wasn’t fair to them. I cared more about these anonymous number’s health and safety than my own. I never cared how it was affecting me, as long as I could believe that those messages were helping them feel better about themselves. Because at the end of the day, I just want to love. I don't have room in my heart to hate, and I have no desire to. But, I’ve realized something: If I want to love everybody, I have to understand that I am part of everybody. I have to love me, too. Which is fucking terrifying. I had just spent a year or more letting anyone who needed to hurt me in the name of their own personal growth, do just that. How was I supposed to turn around and take that away from them and say that it was my time now? It seemed so selfish to me; I was putting what I wanted over what they wanted, a concept I had always seen as negative. But how negative can it really be when it's to keep me healthy? I didn't want to become rude, fighting anger with more anger was never my strong suit. But humor always has been; and messed up humor is where I excel. So, I began sending funny responses back. I'd be a smart ass; or I’d come up with a funny comeback. And I hoped with everything inside me that it would at least make them smile, because I did (and still do) wholeheartedly believe they deserve happiness. Everyone does. Everyone deserves to have that one thing that makes them want to get up in the morning.
By Stormy Robertson7 years ago in Humans
