This month is Support Independent Authors month, and while I’ve been so excited to share my latest book in my #HolidayHeartbeats novella series, I’m not going do it today. As a matter of fact, I had a fabulous post prepared to introduce you to my heroine, Nhu Hoang, but over the past weekend, life got in the way.
Or should I say the loss of life.
Trigger warning: I’m talking about current events that I’d much rather not discuss but would be remiss if I were to avoid them on this platform.
There’s no way on God’s green, glacier-melting earth that I, in good conscience, can plug the mess out of my book today when our country is facing an existential crisis. Do I sound like an alarmist? Well, if so, the rest of this post won’t sound much better.
As much as I love Escapism via books with happily ever after endings, there comes a time when we cannot afford to turn our eyes away from the shadows of the real world. There is no superhero team that will come and eradicate the rotten consequences of our own apathy. At the rate of these mass shootings in America combined with the increase in domestic terrorism, hate crimes, blatant expressions of white supremacy, and systemic misogynistic abuse, it’s only a matter of time before more of the nation will be directly affected by violence.
Seriously, when we can’t even go to Walmart, a bar, or a freaking garlic festival without fear of *death*, our nation’s wellbeing has reached an incredibly low point. I’m tired of our actual lives being politicized – the more exposure we have to hate speech and violent acts, the more we idolize & prioritize weapons, the more desensitized we become. We grow more paranoid, fearful, angry, and hedonistic. These are inevitable acts of self-preservation; it’s either that or become so ridden with anxiety that we can barely function.
My blog serves to help me find the silver lining in a world where folks tend to leave their wildest dreams behind by the time they reach adulthood. I’ve always been an unabashed dreamer, and because it’s a part of my core, I’ll never stop working to achieve those dreams. My faith in humanity is strong, and I know I’m not alone in wanting better for our nation. I also won’t stick my head in the sand when it is obvious that we are faltering.
WORDS HAVE POWER.
Every day, I implore you to question your contribution to society. What are you doing to spread kindness in the world? Like attracts like, and the more we feed into dangerous, violent rhetoric, the more prevalent and mainstream it will become. Step out of your comfort zone and kindly acknowledge someone you see in passing. Toss a compliment to a stranger about their outfit or their smile. Give something good whenever you can, even if it’s simply donating items you’ve cleaned out of your garage. Engage in uplifting exchanges on the internet. Obviously, we must do more than this – I’m merely mentioning examples of what I consider to be basic acts of decency, yet they seem to occur less frequently.
Sure, we can be cynical and scoff at what appear to be piteously insignificant acts, but please realize that our children are watching. They are learning, and they are hurting.
How can they be expected to understand why the adults around them look and sound so angry, frustrated, and scared all of the time? Why is it cute to be snarky and disingenuous to be be polite? It’s so easy to succumb to fear, disgust, and loathing, but what we need is to act the opposite. Use those energies to benefit others in your community.
Now, more than ever, we need leaders who support the view that enough is enough. This is the kind of Pro-Life movement that we need – and it has nothing to do with a fetus.
Rant over.
Sending Love and Light to all of you.
©Atina Atwood 2019 Exploring Love and Life, One Word At A Time.™
– Atina Atwood is a southern girl who moved from Europe to the West Coast. A former university professor in Germany and California, Atina stepped away from Academia to focus on her miracle child, life, love, food, quilting, and of course, Romance. She is the author of the Holiday Heartbeats series. Follow her on Twitter and Pinterest for more, and sign up for Atina’s newsletter here. Luck of the Irish, Holiday Heartbeats #3, will be released this month. Preorder now.
