hey! so, if you saw my IG stories yesterday, you may have noticed that i like bringing up controversial topics now. here’s the schedule for next week: monday – vaccines. tuesday – chem trails. wednesday – feminism. thursday – legalization of…
JUUUST KIDDING!!!
i actually feel like i’m pretty well behaved 99.9% of the time, considering i do dabble in my share of controversial topics! haha.
however! having seen the same things re-shared a whole lot on the border/family separation topic, yesterday, i thought i would add to the conversation via my IG stories with a few different aspects of it that i have found interesting, myself. these were mainly things that pointed out that it’s been an ongoing and more complex issue for much longer than the media has recently been portraying. though many do not like it when you go “off script,” if you will, i found the additional information pertinent… especially after discovering that so many of those troubling photos of children and families at the border were actually from 2014! that makes me feel manipulated. and i just don’t like that.
after all, so many people in the social media and blog world have become very sensitive to the notion that too much online is “staged” or “curated,” and that people make their lives look too much one certain way and not enough another way. so, if your every day guy or gal is too easily able to paint only one side of a picture… why wouldn’t that apply to everything we read or hear?
it’s hard to get a straight story these days, which lends to a lot of frustration among individuals who all genuinely care. however, there’s undoubtedly always more going on than meets the eye, and i don’t think it’s wrong to talk about that! actually, i feel like it’s important to keep the conversation developing… especially when it comes to a complicated, ongoing issue. and it’s not that this one didn’t happen. it’s that, as you can see from the 2014 photos just recently circulating… it has been happening! surely this should have been brought up a long time ago, then, right? that’s aaaall i’m saying.
“a lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.” -winston churchill
no matter the timeline, i think we can all agree that being on the run with your family would be nothing short of terrifying. it’s heartbreaking, particularly for the innocent children involved! obviously, i have small children and i can hardly stand to ever be without them. i can’t imagine.
i’m also very glad that it’s not up to me to review the backlog of 300,000 asylum cases. and i sure wouldn’t want to be the one deciphering between the sex-traffickers, cartel members, delinquents, faux-families, and actual families that have no proof of identity… but there’s no question that all of this is important.
have you lost someone dear to you due to crimes that are being brought over the border? i have. my family has. and we know others who have. it’s a pervasive issue, albeit one that isn’t being fussed about nearly enough.
anyway, you probably know this by now [ha], but i am quite proudly of italian descent on my father’s side. this means a couple of things…
1. i’m not really afraid of a debate! i find it healthy to be unsquelched. family gatherings can be loud. we like it.
2. my ancestors were legal immigrants. they left their homes and families. they got on boats. they came here. they worked HARD. that is a beautiful, brave thing. immigration is important! immigration done well is vital. and i am so grateful for the life my great grandparents and great great grandparents provided for us.
just like anyone else has the opportunity to do, i’m always trying to sort fact from fiction… and sending a lot of prayers while i’m at it. i am thankful every day for the life i have that i sure don’t deserve. i don’t know why we were given the blessings that we have and others not, but i know that those suffering here on earth have the chance to inherit the greatest rewards in heaven.
on that note! i had a lot of truly really great conversations yesterday! lots of encouraging exchanges. and a lot of confirmation that people, as a whole, care. [apathy is the worst, right? so, this is refreshing!] i’ve also gotten the feeling that many of us are actually scared to expand on a conversation beyond what the media has fed us, which is sad. it’s okay to come from different viewpoints! it’s wonderful to share with one another. that makes us stronger!
also, someone pointed out that they’d wished i’d promoted giving money and calling my representative on my “platform.” unfortunately, we learned firsthand that well-intended money is rarely going where you think it’s going after our experience during the 2010 flood. so, unless it’s a charity i truly trust, i would much rather give personally if i have the chance! and as of yesterday, there’s a new executive order in place meant to help keep families together… though, yes, i realize that comes with its own set of issues.
so, thanks for chatting, friends!! it was good, and i appreciated it on all levels!
now, as promised, i shall return to my #blessed “bubble” [words contributed by the less kind yesterday. 😉 but truly, only one person really acted like i was a kitten murderer or something for sharing the notion that the issue wasn’t brand new.] and carry on with sunsets and heart eyes and all the things we really, truly are blessed with… while still continuing to educate myself on as many sides of a matter as i have access to.
because guess what? you’re allowed to dot your i’s with little hearts AND love humanity AND use the search engine of your choosing to peruse news stories. [i like using duck duck go… and they don’t store your data!]
“i must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy.” -john adams
xoxoxo
[comments are closed so i can focus on my coffee sipping and kiddos ;)]