Tag: be kind

A year end reminder…

Happy Holidays! I hope your day has been/is fantastic!

Yes, I do say happy holidays. I am not Christian, and am also extending my blessing to everyone who has a reason to celebrate.

I am going to have a video prepared for the end of the month or early next year, but I wanted to remind everyone to have a safe New Years. I feel like an overbearing parent saying that, but I have lost a friend or two every year due to excessive or stupid partying.

I don’t want sympathy for that point: I just want you to be safe and as awesome as you want to be.

Also, did anyone actually do their resolution from last year? Mine was to survive the year, so I think I did okay. If you did not succeed, that’s okay! Most people don’t make it, and life is hard; especially right now.

Here’s to a fucking great 2023! Or, a somewhat more decent 2023! Remember: don’t touch anything and keep your voice quiet. I am taking a risk in jinxing it, and no one else should pile on!

Protest

I was recently faced by someone who was in a camp for defending a protest that I did not.

Depending on where you stand, I either come off as someone who wants balance to the status quo, or potentially as someone who is anti-protest.

Let me make that point as clear as I can: I am very pro-protest. I love the ideas, the discussion that can come out of them, and the idea of a collection of people standing for a cause.

HOWEVER.

The point of protest is to bolster a point that you feel is being handled in the wrong fashion. In Canada, you have the right to protest (within certain parameters). That also means that I have a right to disagree with your protest.

The kind of person I am, I will not intentionally attempt to undermine a position. If I see flaws in the logic, I will point them out if I am asked about them. If I out-and-out disagree with the cause being screamed about, it is my right to state that. I choose to (mostly) in private. I do have opinions, but I will not voice them if I see no benefit.

Where I get a bit squirrely is surrounding the trucker protest we had in Canada a week or two ago. I was not even sure if I disagreed with it because everywhere I could find information about the “cause” they were fighting for, there seemed to be blatant discrepancies and contradictions.

I am afraid that it undermined real protests for important issues that we see all over this country. Especially around Native rights, the bodies of children that were found in basements of residential schools, and legitimate concerns around abuse of power. This really did come off more as a kid throwing a tantrum as opposed to an actual fight against “tyranny”, or whatever they said they were against.

Yes, I will probably get some flack about my stance, and I welcome someone to explain how the truckers were in any right. I know I made a video recently talking about how I was “done” in regards to things of this nature, but my point was that I was done explaining the same point hundreds of times just to be asked by the same person again.

Normalize sadness

I posted a status on my Facebook that was a statement of fact. It was self-effacing, mildly depressing, but it was NOT a statement speaking of my mental placement at this moment.

The status was something to the idea that no one would notice if I died outside of me wishing them a happy birthday in my silly way that I do.

I didn’t pay much heed to the replies that I received outside of being touched. To be clear: I loved what everyone had to say. I love each and everyone of you.

It got me fixated on the fact that any negative statement results in people worrying if you are okay. The point of me doing the depressing update month is to bring light to that point. There are days where I, and I can only speak for me, find life too daunting to not say anything. Sometimes I feel like screaming into the abyss to NOT have it scream back.

Now, there are days where I want reassurance. I want to have people reach out and say something nice and to remind me that I am not alone in this horrible existence. It does not, necessarily mean that everything is too much that day. It might just be as simple as a lyric, or a quote taken way out of context.

Regardless, if you feel someone is posting about depressing things, don’t shame them for wanting attention. You don’t have to be the one to give it if you feel that it’s inappropriate. If you think that it’s completely unwarranted, ask before chastising.

Fun little thing about Facebook, in particular: you can unfollow someone without unfriending them. If you are offended by someone’s words, just do that. If you aren’t going to be nice, don’t be there at all. Don’t scream from the heavens that you don’t appreciate someone’s words, and don’t make them feel bad because there is a risk that it may be genuine. Yes, you might be a great friend. You might know that person is surrounded by fantastic people. You might even covet part of their existence.

Always remember: YOU AREN’T THAT PERSON.

They might be having a bad day that you know NOTHING about. They might be struggling with something that they don’t want to talk about. They might have undiagnosed or diagnosed depression and deal with everything in ways you cannot understand.

Just let them vent.
Let them be.
Be kind.