where did our compassion go?
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As you’ll already know, I choose not to watch the daily news on TV nor do I read newspapers. And I haven’t done so for decades. The reason being that I simply find that both media are full of fear, negative bias, and more than their fair share of dishonesty. Personally, I just don’t want that kind of energy in my life.
It doesn’t mean I’m oblivious to the world around me. I do subscribe to a non-biased newsletter that simply shares the facts, leaving you to make up your own mind.
And I also trust that if I’m to hear about something, it’ll find a way to reach me. And it always does.
However, recently there have been a couple of headlines and stories in the British news that I have struggled to avoid. As much as I have tried, they have persistently crept into my awareness. And I haven’t been happy about this because the headlines have been far from positive.
Whilst I have consciously not opened and read the stories in detail, just headlines catching my attention and entering my awareness have given me enough of an idea as to what is happening.
However, I’ve also been asking “why?” – why have they persistently been vying for my attention when I consciously choose to avoid such negativity? And, finally, I think I have the answer.
Both stories are very different in nature, however, both have sparked very similar reactions.
In each story someone, a TV personality or a member of royalty, has behaved in a way that the public deem to be improper and, indeed, wrong.
And as a result, a campaign, fueled by the ever-hungry media, has ensued; a campaign characterised by spiteful and wounding comments and opinions, expressions of anger and even hate.
The heavy, dark energy that has been breeding through these media-frenzied stories is impossible to ignore. And, as such, many people have got caught up in it, choosing to share their personal opinions about the people, openly vilifying them, and, in all honesty, (mentally and psychologically) persecuting them.
All because they’re famous or royalty, and living in the public eye. It seems people have decided that their choices and lifestyle have made them fair game.
As someone wishing to remain on the outside, choosing not to understand or read about the stories but merely observing the behaviour and reactions of a public fueled by the media, it reminds me of something you’d read about in dark history; something you could never comprehend would ever happen in today’s modern and more intellectually aware society. And yet here it is.
To openly ridicule and vilify people and believe it is okay, is like saying the witch-hunts of the past were okay or the many murders and genocides that have been committed throughout history were acceptable.
It doesn’t matter if a whole nation is being persecuted, mentally, emotionally, or physically, or whether it’s ‘just’ an individual, this open acceptance that because someone is in the public eye that the public have the right to act as judge, jury and executioner, even without having all the facts, even without knowing all sides of the story, it makes me ask, “where is our compassion?”
And when I wonder why we seem so unable to express compassion towards a fellow human being, is it any wonder there’s so much cruelty in this world towards other species and the planet itself.
No matter what someone does, be they in the public eye or just some random stranger we’ve seen doing something in a place where our paths happen to cross, it’s human nature to have an opinion, to judge. Humans are ego-based. And when you have an ego, you have an opinion. And when you have an opinion, you tend to judge based on that opinion.
However, in order for us to become more compassionate, become more spiritual, be of a higher vibration, it’s important for us to become quickly aware of our thoughts and opinions of others.
We regularly hear people talk about becoming aware of the little voice in our head, usually telling us that we’re not worthy, not deserving, not good enough. But what about the little voice that leads us into believing someone else isn’t worthy, deserving or good enough?
Should we only aim to quieten the voice that demeans us? Surely, we should be aiming to also quieten the voice that demeans others too.
And even more importantly, should we not be diligently ensuring that while we work on quietening that little voice, something that takes practice and a lot of training, that we should, in the interim, ensure our mouths stay firmly shut, not spreading anger, not spreading lies, not spreading hate, not encouraging persecution?
Even though someone may be famous or royalty and live their life in public, it doesn’t make them any more or any less of a human being than us. If we would not enjoy others spreading gossip or news about us, if we wouldn’t relish being publicly vilified whether we did something wrong or not, if we aren’t open to being persecuted by others, then we should not be doing this to others. It’s that simple.
Do onto others as you would have them do unto you. Period. That’s the golden rule. And one we should all remember, every single day.
So, bearing all that in mind, how do we regain our compassion which clearly, as a collective, we have lost? For that, there’s only one group to turn to for guidance, the one group that will give a high vibrational, non-egotistic, unconditionally loving response; the Universe and the angels.
Most of us would say we're compassionate and, indeed, most of us are. However, because we're human and an ego is a very important part of being human, we can never truly be perfectly compassionate because we will offer (or deny) compassion based on our own view of life, our own perceptions, our own limitations.
So there's always an opportunity to become more compassionate. But how?
Viv xx