Honestly something that bothers me more than most things is having my compassion mistaken for naivety.
I know that another fish might eat this bullfrog right after I spend months rehabilitating it.
I know that turning a beetle back onto its legs won’t save it from falling over again when I walk away.
I know that there is no cosmic reward waiting for my soul based on how many worms I pick off a hot sidewalk to put into the mud, or how many times I’ve helped a a raccoon climb out of a too-deep trashcan.
I know things suffer, and things struggle, and things die uselessly all day long. I’m young and idealistic, but I’m not literally a child. I would never judge another person for walking by an injured bird, for ignoring a worm, or for not really caring about the fate of a frog in a pond full of, y’know, plenty of other frogs.
There is nothing wrong with that.
But I cannot cannot cannot look at something struggling and ignore it if I may have the power to help.
There is so much bad stuff in this world so far beyond my control, that I take comfort in the smallest, most thankless tasks. It’s a relief to say “I can help you in this moment,” even though they don’t understand.
I don’t need a devil’s advocate to tell me another fish probably ate that frog when I let it go, or that the raccoon probably ended up trapped in another dumpster the next night.
I know!!!! I know!!!!!!! But today I had the power to help! So I did! And it made me happy!
So just leave me alone alright thank u!!!!
THIS.
I heard a story about this, a parable I guess.
There was a big storm and a ton of starfish were washed onto the beach, stranded much further up than they could get back and beginning to bake in the post-storm sunshine. A little girl was walking down the beach, picking up starfish and throwing them back into the sea. Some guy comes up and asks her what she’s doing. “Saving the starfish,” she says.
He looks around at the huge beach and the hundreds of starfish, and says “You can’t possibly save them all. I’m afraid you’re not gonna make much of a difference.”
She throws another starfish back into the ocean, and replies “It made a difference to that one.”
Yeah, I mean, we know we can’t change all the things. But have you ever noticed how much better life is when you’re around people who change things when they can?
Kindness is a choice. Even if it’s small, it’s worth it.
This is what I’m talking about, when I say that kindness and compassion do not equate with ignorance, stupidity, or naivety. Being cynical does not make someone more intelligent or more worldly.
Kindness is not weakness.
Kindness is brave. Especially when you also know that your kindness might not be returned, may even be met with anger or cruelty. It’s reaching out with an open hand, knowing that it’s just as likely to be bitten as it is to be held.
Kindness is hard. If you can’t find it in yourself to be kind, then fine. But don’t make it more difficult for those that can.
Reminds me so much of mini-prinz and his tales of picking up snails off the sidewalk 😊
honestly such a power move to headcanon popular cartoon characters belonging to homophobic/transphobic creators as gay and/or trans knowing it definitely makes them seethe in rage
what I’m saying is danny phantom is trans and butch hartman can’t do jackshit about it
since pride month is coming up, that also means we’re getting closer to the month when there’ll be 10000 posts reminding us that all the gay pride merch is just a corporate cash-in, that these corporations don’t care about us, that the world isn’t really any better, that none of the pride merch and ads actually mean anything, that it isn’t really progressive, blah blah blah
let me just say
i know. most people on here know. you are not the sole thinking person in a world of sheep. i promise you that the person you’re making all these points to has heard it 100 times 100 ways from 100 other people. we know, tumblr. we know.
but dammit, one month a year i get rainbow everything, and that’s a breath of fresh air after eleven months of straight nonsense. i LOVE seeing pride everywhere, even if it is just a corporate cash-grab. and it’s not like i can just opt out of this capitalist society, so fuck it, imma buy all the rainbow, pride-themed, gay merch i can get my hands on.
the world is a capitalist hellhole and there is no escape, so we may as well have what fun we can with it while we try and make things better.
happy pride, folks.
And hey, you know what you can do if you want merch that doesn’t just feed the corporate wallet? Go on Etsy, Storenvy, Society6, or just about a bazillion other websites where independent artists sell their products,and support your queer/LGBT+ artists! Directly! Hand them cold hard cash, there’s no better direct action than that, my dudes!
Listen. I’m 40. When I was a kid, it would have been unthinkable to sell Pride merchandise in mainstream stores, or possibly AT ALL in the deeply conservative state I live in.
The fact that LGBT rights have advanced enough to be considered mainstream, that we are acknowledged to be a demographic large and powerful enough to be marketed to, is a wonder. It is astonishing. It amazes me.
So yeah, it’s a cash grab, whatever, I get it, and I think companies that want to market to the queer demographic then they should support queer causes because we ARE still very much disadvantaged.
But I can’t forget how it was when I was a kid. When it was much more dangerous to publicly show your colors.
Maybe it’s tasteless, but it speaks volumes about how far we have come.
And yes, there are LOADS of queer indie artists to shop from and I recommend that. But if you want to buy some mass-market sweatshop produced piece of crap and then WEAR IT IN PUBLIC, then DO SO. Because in doing so you are making us more visible. And that’s a good thing. Never forget the value that being visibly queer has for closeted people, especially the young.
