Lately, when I look at people's posts on Facebook and other forms of social media, it seems I get one message more than anything else. People are scared. People function in a state of fear. People react to the world, to others, to their own lives, in a state of fear. If they're not scared, they're angry. If they're neither of these, they're grieving.
The problem is, so long as we stay in the reactive side of things, functioning on fear, pain, or anger, we really can't move forward. This is the reason why terrorism will never be an effective form of political communication. Terrorism brings exactly what the name implies. It brings terror. It breeds fear, anger, and sorrow. When faced with these emotions, people run away, fight back, or freeze up. It's not a conscious decision we make. That is our natural response to things that scare us or hurt us.
The few people who are speaking rationally about things, the ones who are open and willing to listen, are the people who honestly aren't reacting out of fear, anger, or sorrow. These people are functioning in other areas of their brains. It doesn't make them more enlightened. When faced with flight or fight stuff, they would react the same way as anyone else.
We're never going to have any kind of peace in this world as long as we continue to agitate situations. The more fear we promote, the more anger we promote, the more hatred . . . well, it's certainly a case of harvesting the stuff you plant. If you want someone to reach out to you, don't reach toward them in a threatening manner. If you want positive response, offer positive contact.
Sometimes I wonder if this is even possible these days.
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