AES 29: Changes are scary

We yearn for connection, yet isolate ourselves. We seek love, but fear loss. We dream for someday, instead of trying for today. We want change, but don't want to change. We over-consume, then wonder why there's no space to create. We love the ocean, yet buy plastic. We advocate for education, then bury our students in loans. We want health, but for a price. We believe in equality, but struggle to bridge the gap of inequality. We ask for better leaders, but don't think to lead. We wish for a better world, but not at the cost of comfort and convenience. There's a disconnect here. And it's not any one person's fault. The world is made up of both beauty and brokenness. Most of the time, I believe we have our hearts in the right place. The problem is how overwhelming it all seems, but change is made up of small moments. Change happens when we have been hurt, but choose not to act from our hurt. Change happens when we see someone who seems upset, and ask how we can support them. Change happens when we don't pretend to have all the answers, but are willing to ask the uncomfortable questions. The truth is, if we knew the whole story behind everyone's actions, we would see why they are the way they are. And it doesn't excuse it, but compassion is the birthplace of change.

It tears you apart knowing that change is currently happening. The words that shouldn't have been said, the actions that shouldn't have been done, the things we regret doing really haunt our lives. Change is scary, especially the ones that take big steps. But without change, life would be even more awful. We wouldn't know how it feels to be free from the things that held us captive.