Listening to a debate on TV. Thinking “yes I’ve heard that before, mhm, same thing” as I recall another time in my life. Hopeful, engaged youth. Belief… I was the 4-year old who wanted to solve the world starvation by growing bananas on the mountain at home, the 9-year old who wrote a 1 meter letter to the local politicians protesting against their decision to cram even more pupils into our school, the 12-year old debuting activist who put her soul into animal welfare, environmental issues and human rights screaming her throat sore for the cause. My family use to joke about that if you see a protest march you can be sure to find her there. I felt like it was my duty to do something.
For many, it seems like the feeling of powerlessness grows with age and the human spirit is easily suppressed by the inertia and conformity of society. I have heard relatives and others say “I do not have the energy to care, I have enough taking care of my own life”. The 12-year old activist would strangle me now if she knew that her older self is uttering exactly the same words. To not be heard, to not receive response is the best way of killing human spirit.
With that comes passivity and “whats-the-point-bitterness”. Maybe, the villian is not only the feeling of nothing happening but also the realization of the complexity of things.The human likes simple solutions and overwhelming difficult tasks takes our endurance level down to the bottom. However, there are people who keep their spirits up, who does not give into the conformity and that impresses and inspires me.
Recently I have felt something – hey have I started to care? The rebel sometimes wakes up and says “hey, what happened?”.
