Some days I feel like the world ask us to be so many things all at once. You gotta be doing something for yourself, for your family, for the environment, something for the greater good of society in general. I think society expects so much of us as if by the time we hit 20 we automatically blossom into adults already equipped with the wisdom we need to fight against racism, sexism, corruption, cultural appropriation, differences in religion, and other injustices our society currently face. As if we have all the time and energy to always radiate self love, be a good family person, be absolute professionals in our jobs, chase our passions, be financially stable, mentally healthy and as if we have the money to keep ourselves fit, go see the world, and seek higher education. We cannot keep stretching ourselves in all possible directions and expect ourselves to go forward anywhere.
If we´re being honest with ourselves, we know we can only ever achieve a small fraction of all the things we want to be. We need to stop pressuring ourselves to fight every war, we need to choose our battles and also learn to choose our weapons. You cannot keep picking up arrows or long range weapons if your aim is bad. This is why that statement is important, I don´t know why but somehow when we hear any problem in our society our first instinct is to be keyboard warriors, just exploding with opinion on our feeds, in a comments section but the thing is not all of us have the right words, not all of us have the right voice. Most of us don´t even have the right stories to be screaming the things we are so tirelessly screaming, we´re just taking from somebody else. And it doesn´t always have to be words on top of words, there is music, there is art, there are acts of compassion, there are multiple actions of support. We need to choose the one thing we know how to do best, the method by which we can make the most impact. We need to fight with the weapon we know how to yield best.
You cannot singlehandedly change the world. And you need not force yourself to fight too many fights all at once. Choose one thing, one simple thing you know you can honestly change. It doesn´t matter how small it feels to change somebody´s day or maybe just change somebody´s mind. Small things done with the right intention will always echo into bigger things, to bigger change.
At one point in my life I told myself I would be an Environmental Engineer, do my part to save the planet but turns out I don´t even have the money to get a graduate degree for that. I tried to be more active in doing volunteer work but honestly cannot find the time. The thing I am dedicating myself now to is helping others through their depression, anxiety and anger issues, because I learned by now one of the things I do best is listening, and really listening. It doesn´t matter if you can just give somebody 10 minutes, as long as you are honestly present and you don´t need to have the wisest words because honestly comfort is not always found in great advice. Comfort is found in words that let you know somebody is there for you, willing to carry your load with you, and willing to untangle the thoughts that frustrate you. This is also why I write, not to seek any form of validation but in hopes that it will give somebody comfort. I used to write for myself, but now I want to write hoping that the right words may reach the people who really need to hear them.
Work in Progress 