What we see is just the surface.
The internet is not for the faint-hearted. I stopped reading comments on online news and Facebook posts because it drives me nuts. Last week on Quora, I stumbled upon this question, “Why Are There So Many Filipinos in Dubai?”, the answers broke my heart:
- Lots of Emiratis and expats who want maids and nannies for the minimum amount of money.
- They can get to Dubai easily find work and accept getting paid pittance, survive in inhumane conditions and take all the crap they can get from arabs. Cool, arent they?
- They are there to work for slave wages, serving the laziest people on the face of the Earth.
These people were blessed with a powerful tool, the internet, a tool which people are fighting for to be free and widely available, yet these people use it to promote ignorance.
Never take what you have for granted.
A tragedy happened in the French Alps. There are just so many opinions, so many questions and I can’t read anything about it anymore. People have different ways of grieving, overcoming their fears, and getting through tough times. And everyone is hurting and is going through something, just like you and me. Some people are just really good at hiding things.
This morning, I wanted to post something on someone’s wall to try to brighten up that person’s day. While browsing through the posts and comments, I felt like I don’t exist in that person’s life. I felt alone, so why bother? Silly right? I was unable to show how I care about that person, who might actually need it because I got distracted and I cared too much about myself.
You have no idea how much you mean to me. You have no idea how much you can mean to someone.
What do I do when I feel alone and whenever I feel that everything sucks? I share and read.
Share? How can you share when you feel alone? I write. I talk. I reach out.
Dave Eggers said that “secrets do not increase in value if kept”, and that “one’s past is either made useful or else mutates and becomes cancerous”. That “we share things for the obvious reasons: it makes us feel un-alone”.
Then there’s this thing called, reading.
In 2012, I did an interview with Readmill about reading and how it helped me feel less lonely. How reading is a form of escape for me. I have a problem though, I can’t read as much as I want to. Every year, “To read more.” is part of my New Year’s Resolutions. Leo Babauta wrote The Delightfully Short Guide to Reading More Books in which he listed the following:
- Create reading triggers.
- Enjoy the reading.
- Only read books you enjoy.
- Always bring your book.
- Use a closet.
I hope this helps. And if you’re one of those who haven’t picked up a book since leaving school, give it a try. I hope you find an escape from reading too.
P.S. Let’s pray for Flight 4U 9525 and their families. Let’s pray for all the innocent lives who die every day in Syria, Palestine, Yemen, Iraq… everywhere. Let’s pray for those who kill, that they may find peace in themselves.
Other interesting finds:
35 Books You Need To Read In Your Twenties
10 Ways to Do What You Don’t Want to Do
Watch The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz