14 November 2015

In the face of hardship


We all know there is a dark side to humanity. And sometimes, one gets reminded of this close, so close to home. In the face of such hardship, what can we do? I refuse to give up to anger and cynism on this sad day. In the face of hardship, it is important to focus on the good.

The #PorteOuverte hashtag was born just minutes after the attacks, Parisians offering to shelter people in their homes. We received support from all around the world. Messages flow from friends and family. In the face of hardship, humans cooperate, support each other, stand up to evil. In the face of hardship, we are one. This time, I want to keep faith in humanity, see the positive emerge from hardship.

PS: We are safe. Friends are safe. And grateful for it. All our thoughts go to the victims and their families.

19 comments:

  1. I'm very glad all you and yours are safe! It's such awful news, but the small light in the centre of it all is the love, kindness and support that humans are capable of showing toward one another, even in the darkest of times. Peace may be a long way off, but love wins in the end.

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    1. Very true! It is heartwarming to see that these actions of hate bring love and cooperation among all of us :)

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  2. I'm very thankful you and your loved ones are safe and so sad about what happened. I've been reading your blog for a while now but have been too shy to comment before. Thank you for all that you write - it reminds us (or at least me) of what is important and wonderful and worth being brave for in a sometimes scary world. Hugs, Karen

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    1. Thank you so much for your kind note Karen! I am very thankful to have such great readers :)

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  3. I'm happy to hear you are safe! And thank you for the inspiring words - "inspiring" is so overused these days but here I mean it. Sometimes I feel like thoughts of the world's bad things will consume me. I will try to preserve my faith in the goodness of people.

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    1. We do feel consumed by bad things sometimes. Something happens inside when we realize the horrors human beings are capable of. But we are also capable of the best and of this week-end, I prefer to remember all the friends, and even acquaintances who called and messaged us, I prefer to remember the people who queued to give their blood and all the support, either in words or in actions, that the whole world offered. It is now that we most need to have faith in the goodness of humanity :) Thanks for your kind message Samantha!

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  4. I'm glad you're okay. Keep us updated.

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    1. Thanks Kristina. All is well for now. Of course we hear stories, of someone who lost a cousin or a colleague on Friday. Thankfully, for now my close circle of friends and family isn't touched. I'm keeping hope :)

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  5. Such a terrible tragedy, I thought of you while we were watching from across the pond. Glad to hear you and your loved ones are safe.

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    1. Thank you for your thoughtful note Erin! I am very thankful indeed that all around me are safe :)

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  6. Such a terrible tragedy, I thought of you while we were watching from across the pond. Glad to hear you and your loved ones are safe.

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  7. So happy that you are well and safe, and so delighted to hear that the people of Paris rise to every challenge with kindness.

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    1. Thank you Janice :) It is very heartwarming to see this wave of kindness, cooperation and support around us indeed!

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  8. Glad you are safe, happy you and your friends were together for this tragedy.

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    1. Thank you Ariana. You are Paris as well, aren't you? I hope all was well for you and your close ones as well.

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  9. From tumblr (http://thehpalliance.tumblr.com/post/133167507853/we-are-with-you-processing-grieving-baffled)
    "We are with you: processing, grieving, baffled, shattered, grasping desperately for light.

    Here is what we know: unspeakable harm was done to Paris tonight; unspeakable harm will be done to people of Muslim faith and people of color by people who take advantage of tragedy to act on their hatred; people across the world - ourselves among them - are shaken to their very core; this is not the first time; we cannot say it will be the last time.

    And so much of this feels intensely personal.

    It seems that the list of safe spaces torn apart by violence grows every year: schools, movie theaters, schools again, places of worship, places of community, venues for live music. We grow up hearing that stories are escapes only to find demons in our safest havens.

    And so we cannot blame those whose lists of personal safe spaces narrow in parallel. Your feelings are valid, your reaction is valid, and we urge you to follow your gut, to seek what safety means for you.

    But if you feel safest in the very places terrorists - in Paris, in Columbine, in Aurora, in Newtown, in Charleston, and on and on and on - have devastated, know you have not lost them. If anger boils in your stomach, know nothing can come from meeting their hatred with your own. The most powerful thing we can do every time we move forward from unthinkable loss is to hold on to love and to hold on to what we love.

    This is not easy. But it is so important.

    The places we love - movie theaters at midnight, libraries where books changed our lives, venues where we sang late into the night - have given us not just entertainment, but spaces to make sense of the world, spaces to make sense of ourselves, crowds to be distinctly and lastingly unalone in, lifelong friendships, lifelong magic, homes to carry with us.

    We cannot and will not let them take any of this from us.

    Here is how we move forward: keep loving; keep fighting; celebrate story; laugh, dance, sing - with your friends, with strangers, with every single person who keeps showing up when the world tells them not to; resist hatred; resist cynicism; know none of this is foolish; know that it is necessary; protect and defend those who - not for the first time - will be victims of hatred falsely carried out in the name of justice; give love and light to those around you and those around the world; be excellent to each other; be good.

    Always, always, always: the weapon we have is love."

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    1. Thank you for copying these words, it is very right, we must meet this with love and life, not with hate and anger. Thank you so much :)

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