IX: The world, narrated by heads and eyes

There are no winners in a situation like this. Unfortunately, that’s not the way some people see these things.

There are always more opportunities to get ahead. There are always more profits to make. There is always more land to wrestle away. There is always, always, a scapegoat to blame.

We’re absolutely, incredibly, extremely talented at making excuses. At fabricating explanations. When we really want something, rhyme and reason become clay at our hands — molded and twisted into any situation we desire it to fit.

In the world in your head, everything makes sense. Unluckily for you, that’s not the world you or I live in.

This isn’t a world of simply good and evil. Rarely are many things either one or the other.

I’ve been called immature or idealistic for believing the world is full of good, yet misguided people. It’s been a heavy point of criticism — I believe too much in goodness or I trust too easily — and maybe in this world that’s weakness.

I’ve come to know that we need to focus on both the world in our heads, and the world in our eyes. We need to maintain a balance for the lives we seek — the bubble — and the lives we live. We need to realize the distinction between the two.

It’s all quite nicely packaged and labeled. Those who choose to remain mentally in the bubble are idealistic, too quick to trust, or maybe even immature. Those who choose to remain solely outside it are skeptics, slow to trust. Are both good? Are both evil?

Problem is, it’s not that simple. Not much is.
Problem is, if you unwrap the packaging, if you tear off the labels, you’ll come to realize that these people are the same.

Idealists are the immature are the skeptics are quick to trust are slow to trust.

And human beauty lies in that fact. We are the spectrum. Underneath the layers, the distinctions, the titles, the names, and the addresses, we’re all the same.

Let’s start by loving our neighbors.