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I do try not to make this journal too political, but http://www.imnotsorry.net is just too amazing. It's a collection of stories from women who had abortions and are glad of it. Whether or not you support abortion, it's fascinating to hear women's voices speaking out all by themselves. Sometimes the grammar isn't that good, and some of them definitely need to learn about formatting paragraphs for the 'Net, but the stories are authentic and clear and touching.
There's something amazing about hearing the world speak, even if you don't agree with what they're saying. It's a reminder of what the world really is: a whole bunch of people just like you, who have big dreams and loves and sometimes get scared. It can be so easy to think in groups--Dems, Republicans, Pro- and Anti-Choicers, Muslims and Christians, Easterners and Westerners. But we are all really just people. One and one and one and one coming together to make up a multitude, but still one.
Actually, I have another rec for stuff like this. If you haven't heard of Studs Terkel, look him up. This man worked Chicago radio for decades, broadcasting five days a week. He interviewed people. Everyone, the stars and the politicians and the janitors and the telephone operators and the homemakers and the hookers. And he broadcast them over the airwaves. Hunderds of people's stories, sad and funny and sweet and thought-provoking and real, pouring out over the radio. Many of his interviews have been published in books collections, which are easier to find than the original audio recordings. and it's this incredible portrait of America, yes, but also of humanity, of people doing what they do and being who they are and telling you the stories that they know, the things they've learned, the hurts they've sustained. It's amazing and humbling and awe-inspiring all at once.
This is how you keep going. All the groups are doing bad things, everyone's messed up. The worlds seems like it's falling to pieces. But then you read something like this, and you realize that every person you see on the street is a person, an individual. They all have stories like that. At the base of everything is one and one and one, and the ones are wonderful, and you realize it and love everybody you walk by on the street and tip your waitress twenty-five percent because her smile was a real one and not just a mask.
There's something amazing about hearing the world speak, even if you don't agree with what they're saying. It's a reminder of what the world really is: a whole bunch of people just like you, who have big dreams and loves and sometimes get scared. It can be so easy to think in groups--Dems, Republicans, Pro- and Anti-Choicers, Muslims and Christians, Easterners and Westerners. But we are all really just people. One and one and one and one coming together to make up a multitude, but still one.
Actually, I have another rec for stuff like this. If you haven't heard of Studs Terkel, look him up. This man worked Chicago radio for decades, broadcasting five days a week. He interviewed people. Everyone, the stars and the politicians and the janitors and the telephone operators and the homemakers and the hookers. And he broadcast them over the airwaves. Hunderds of people's stories, sad and funny and sweet and thought-provoking and real, pouring out over the radio. Many of his interviews have been published in books collections, which are easier to find than the original audio recordings. and it's this incredible portrait of America, yes, but also of humanity, of people doing what they do and being who they are and telling you the stories that they know, the things they've learned, the hurts they've sustained. It's amazing and humbling and awe-inspiring all at once.
This is how you keep going. All the groups are doing bad things, everyone's messed up. The worlds seems like it's falling to pieces. But then you read something like this, and you realize that every person you see on the street is a person, an individual. They all have stories like that. At the base of everything is one and one and one, and the ones are wonderful, and you realize it and love everybody you walk by on the street and tip your waitress twenty-five percent because her smile was a real one and not just a mask.