The world is an awful place
With constant threats always around us
We’ve become desensitized to it all
Riding every horrible event out like a passing wave.
On November 13, 2015
Around 150 Parisians lost their lives
And as people “mourned” them with
Promises of prayers and pictures of French tricolors
In the passing of everyday life
We already seem to have forgotten it all
I don’t understand it.
These are actual deaths that really occurred,
And we’re treating it as any viral trend
Taking part of it, but taking part of nothing
Taking a few seconds to just sigh deeply,
And think,
I’m so glad it wasn’t me, and move on.
Where has all our compassion gone? Why is there no empathy?
Stop saying that you’re praying for Paris; stop fooling yourself
With delusions of your own philanthropy
Do something.
Not just for Paris, but for the declining world.
You’re part of it too.
Are you going to keep waiting,
Waiting for someone else to make a move,
Waiting until it’s too late?
For you see, the cruelest people
Are not always the ones who start the battles.
Leaders cannot be leaders without followers,
And that’s all we’ve become,
Mindless herds of animals without purpose
Ignoring the problems and hoping they’ll go away.
___

The world is a wonderful place
Uniting people in the most intricate and complicated of ways.
It reminds us that the most admirable of people
Are human, just as we are,
And that heroes exist
Because one day,
A person saw one in the mirror
And decided to make a difference.
There are no existing boundaries
For being a hero
Besides the excuses you make for yourself.
Being a hero is not necessarily about
Being fearless,
Because no one is completely without fear.
Being a hero is not necessarily about
Representation for a greater cause
Because anyone can say they represent
These seem to be part of the job description
But being a hero is really about overcoming limitations,
Those walls of apathy, hate, and ignorance
People have built around themselves.
Break them down.
Be willing to be different.
Be willing to take that first step away
From the ordinary
To the extraordinary.
___

The world is a paradox;

It’s simultaneously wonderful and awful.
However, it’s what you do with this realization that matters.