The Dissonance
a brief thought on bearing witness.
I speak from the tug between antonymous realities, and my heart aches for each of them.
The realization of how broken this world is never softens, never dulls. It rips at my soul time and time again.
How can one’s heart not be moved to wrenching, to despair, to grief in the thick of all of this? How can one consider such times disdain?
To speak of what hurts as a witness to, as a sufferer of, my thoughts are this — we ought not hold our tongues, even if we don’t believe what we have to say has the power to change anything.
We shouldn’t spare our words when it concerns ourselves, and we shouldn’t spare them when it concerns others.
Language is our most powerful tool. Let it be our weapon of choice. Let it be our saving grace. Let it be an ecosystem in which love abides and from where it grows.
Our words are our instruments. We ought to make noise, use language as a medium for restoration and for change. We ought to be concerned enough to bear witness to each other.
How concerned are you?
Thank you for being here. If my words move you in any way, please consider supporting the costs of my upcoming intentional writer’s retreat.
Definitely also feeling the weight of the current dissonance - the heartbreak of carrying a deep love for humanity and bearing witness to the horror of it.
Some days it feels like being ripped in two trying to hold on to joy, wonder, and hope while being reminded of the current fever pitch of suffering and cruelty.
I find that kindness is what we cling to in moments of fear - may we use words as our tools to weave connection and trust amongst wider wider and wider circles. An outstretched hand, a thoughtful action, a warm word are all their own kind of lifeboats.
Thank you for this piece, it was a cathartic and thoughtful way to begin a new day :)
this was a powerhouse! and one of the many reasons I believe that we don't have to necessarily make our posts longer to be impactful. you said a lot with so little.