Sending Love and Appreciation to All My Compassionate and Empowering Readers

Hello Friends,I'm on my second day of not sleeping well. The level of violence and intolerance in this country is getting worse instead of better, and it's clear that we are in desperate need of a cultural awakening. What we have now isn’t working.On many levels, we have to change.Over the last few days, our whole nation has been processing its trauma over yet another assault on our sense of basic decency. Unfortunately, the reckless way the media has handled this event has resulted in even more threats of violence against the innocent.Yesterday, there were credible threats against Historically Black Universities. The people attending those places had nothing to do with any of this.We need to settle in and recognize that we have a huge fight ahead. There is a lot of work to do. This fight is for the soul of our nation and for the future of our children.We’re fighting to defend our basic concept of freedom. We’re fighting to ensure that our children have a chance at inheriting a world where prosperity is possible, and that they’ll be treated with dignity.I dream that my kids will have the opportunity to make their own choices about the people they’ll spend time with. I hope that those people, too, will have been instructed on the importance of treating others with respect and kindness. I hope that together they can form a true partnership of equals, and they will be resolved to help each other when times get hard.For too long, our country has lived by the ideology that if you encounter vulnerability it’s an opportunity for exploitation in pursuit of personal comfort and luxury.For too long, we’ve revered those that have taken all they can extract from anyone who should happen to stumble in their path. Then they go on to disparage the individuals whose lives they’ve left in ruins because of their thefts.What we’ve failed to recognize is that the only people who accumulate fortunes are those that prey on others, including the helpers who unwittingly carry predators through their own inevitable moments of hardship.Wealth and power are false idols, and we must reject them.The only people that are able to accumulate fortunes are those that receive aid and repay it with ruthlessness.Today, we have a small group of predators who have amassed so much that every single one of us is left struggling.It doesn’t have to be like this.But despite the fact that we’re facing the same hardships together, it can feel as if we’re all alone. That sense of solitude can be overwhelming. We’re collectively huddling beneath the umbrella of the same cruel authority. But we don’t reach out to each other for help, because we’ve been conditioned to think that everyone is the same as the monsters who have taken everything.They’re not.You, my dear readers, are proof of that.Through writing on this platform and in my interactions with all of you, I know that I’m not alone.I hope that, in some small way, you too have been able to recognize you’re not alone either.We are in this together.We are the same.And as we continue to move forward and create more connections, the cracks in the veil of authority become easier to perceive.We continue to have our voice be heard as we bravely face the objective of peeling away the layers of oppression that have been installed, not just externally, but within our personal thoughts.We can give ourselves permission to think differently.We have to recognize we’ve been convinced by malicious authority that we should not speak out against injustice. We’re told, “That’s just the way it is. Human beings have always been like this.” In this way, we become enablers of oppression.That’s an assumption we have to be resolved to reject as we resign ourselves to the diligent work of fulfilling the promises of freedom and equality that have been left unkept.After two nights of not sleeping well due to stress, I awoke this morning with an overwhelming sense of affection for all the people out there who are working hard to get us through this mess.I watched a video of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She stood at the center of a stadium with tens of thousands of people. She smiled and you could see the kindness radiating out from her. Then she said, “This is our country. It doesn’t belong to any other.”This is our life.These are the moments of our lives, and the trials we must face.I recognize that it’s easy to succumb to despair. That’s made worse if you subject yourself to the overwhelming tidal wave of lies that’s out there. Social media doesn’t do us any favors. It’s easy to walk around beneath a storm cloud thinking that nothing can be done, or that it’s too late, or that the enemy has already won. I get a fair number of comments from disconsolate people who claim our moment has passed.It might seem that way, but as long as we can resist, we hold on to a chance.You might recall the story of the the mouse that fell into a vat of cream. It had no way out, but it swam all night anyway. By morning the cream had turned to butter and the mouse escaped.We’re the mouse trapped in the cream. Just keep swimming.Hold onto your hope and your sense of what’s right and let that guide your actions. You only fail when you surrender.A lot of things can change and they might change in ways that we can't perceive or predict. The one thing that we can control at this moment is our will to hope for a better world and to spend our labors in the pursuit of prosperity and dignity for our kids.I'm quite willing to carry a burden based on nothing other than the hope that my children will never have to bear it. For me, I’d call that a life well lived. I don’t need anything other than that. I can continue this effort to the end of my days and leave this world without regret.It's hard though, it is a hard thing. There are moments when despair creeps in. And on those days, I can turn to you, my wonderful readers and collaborators and friends.There has been more than one instance when a kind comment has brought tears to my eyes. My emotions run close to the surface these days, and I feel as if I’m in better touch with the deeper part of me that resonates.We can perceive a truth that exists beyond our senses, and that’s where we must allow our instincts to direct us.I'll keep doing this. I'll keep telling stories, and we'll encourage each other, and we'll fortify each other, and we'll keep finding other people who think like us. We'll do our best to erase the illusion of a chasm that divides us.All are welcome, even the ones who have been misled. The ones who are sincere in rejecting the deceits which have tricked them into enabling hate will find a place here. Provided they are sincere.I wanted to let you, my readers, know how important your contribution is.Your attention is a huge thing for me. It is a source of energy. Knowing that I have wonderful people like you out there who are willing to read and think about these ideas, makes it so much easier. I’m fortified by the notion that we can all go forward in our mutual pursuit of a better world.Simply knowing you’re out there is enough.This morning, I woke up tired, I woke up emotionally exhausted, and I woke up with an overwhelming sense of love for all of you. Of those three emotions, the one that won was the sense of love. I wanted to acknowledge how much you’ve helped. You’ve done so much. You can’t possibly know how important your efforts have been.Simple acts of kindness magnify in time. They resonate. When you put two acts of kindness together, they create an object larger than the sum of its parts.The miracle I was talking about before? It’s here.So, don't waste energy on despair.Do what you can to get through another day. Hold your loved ones close. Say the things that you had always intended to say, and forget about all the distractions and deceits that have become so commonplace in the world today.Look inward. We are all equipped with a moral compass. And I think if you talk to your neighbors, you'll find that your compass and theirs is aligned.So thank you again, remember that when all hope is lost, you must consider it a victory simply to persist. You are helping others in ways you can’t see or imagine, but it’s through these efforts that miracles may happen.I'd Rather Be Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to I'd Rather Be Writing at walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe