This is who we are.
I don’t have many words right now. Or I have too many. And none of them are true.
We’ve lost the truth it seems. Lost the ability to recognize truth amidst the never-ending flood of information. Truth is a hard thing to find, harder to hold. We are, by design, a society of the barely literate and easily led. At every opportunity, we reject truth for the comfort of belief and demand respect for our delusions. We seek punishment and blame for our own failures and for the failures or our leaders. We refuse the warnings of scientists and scholars and writers and journalists dedicated to seeking and spreading only truth, while we happily swallow the poison fed to us by conmen and grifters whose lies confirm our suspicion and hatred. We choose distraction. We choose chaos. We choose cruelty. We choose fear. Evil didn’t even require violence this time. We opened the door.
This is who we are. I’m so fucking sorry, but that is the truth.
I’m not giving up. I’m choosing hope. I’ll keep seeking the truth, though I might need a stronger lamp. Goddamn it’s dark and getting darker. But I choose hope. I’ll do what I know to do. I’ll make a plan. I’ll write. I’ll hope I see the light again.
“Evil didn’t even require violence this time. We opened the door.” Damn.
You have all of the words Lauren. And all of them are true. My wife and I dive into your pieces and when we come up for air, we look at one another and say wow, her words. I am grateful for your raw unedited sharing of your soul Lauren. My writing mentor says if a piece of writing can make a difference in just one life it has done it's job. Lauren, you are doing a fantastic job making a difference in my life.