Thought.is

There is this inclination toward ignoring privilege as if pretending it’s not there is somehow equalizing, when in reality, it has the opposite effect. Inequality, prejudice, institutionalized oppression, and injustices are far too deeply ingrained to be wiped away by imagination.

It dawned on me one day as I sank into a particularly sad mood—the type that has an ache to it like its own heartbeat—that we are not meant to be hollow. So, I chose to view as essential the grief, sadness, and longing that rush in like caged water escaping through cracks in crumbling walls.

You never know when you’ll have to rely on the kindness of strangers, or when you will be a stranger whose kindness is needed. I don’t know that karma works as efficiently and effectively as we might all like to believe, but I do think the more kindness is put out into the world, the better.