See No Evil, Hear No Evil

Back in 2005 when I lived in San Francisco, my older brother and I used to do this thing 
where we would compare the top news stories in Finland and California. I was absolutely shocked by how different the world news was. It really opened my eyes and made me start searching for my own answers. Thankfully I was exposed to media bias early on, I was only 19 then and I haven’t watched TV ever since.

The longer I have been “away” from the news, the more absurd the flashes of front pages seem to me. Murder, sex, money, and sports. Oh, and must not forget pedophilia and cancer. Is there really no better way to spend our precious time and energy than to read the same stories of misery day after day? The news has got nothing to do with information any longer, they manipulate and hide so many aspects of the truth of any situation that it is impossible to know what really is going on and why. 

It is absolutely clear to me that the news is only there to show us as much violence and injustice as possible just so that we would accept that the world is evil and that there is nothing we can do about it. The amount of wrong that we are exposed to is so overwhelming, that it has become the norm for us. The news absolutely numbs our sense of justice, and kills our will to act or take any responsibility. We are made silent witnesses of horrid crimes. It is a means of control, of course. We are paralysed in front of our TV screens and newspapers.

But there is so much we can do! First of all, we can stop following the news and disconnect ourselves from the massive brainwashing machinery. What I for example do instead, is get updates from campaign networks and organisations like Amnesty International, Care2, SumOfUs and Avaaz, who are actually doing something about the atrocities blasted in neon screens and fat fonts. It feels great to be able to take action straight away - like sign a petition, send a direct appeal on an email or donate money. And these people share good news as well, which is completely missing from the conventional news feed. Of course nothing stops us from starting our own campaigns, demonstrations or petitions either.

The film The Matrix is frighteningly true when it comes to depicting an illusionary world. We really are controlled and used by similar forces to the machines in the film, only in our case they are gigantic emotionless media corporations. They carefully create this web of lies around us, shape our view so that we only see what they want us to see. Many of our thoughts and opinions are not even ours, they are implanted deep in our minds so masterfully that we have no idea of their true origin. How else is it possible that we can justify the genocide of Palestinians, factory farming, starvation or usury? We are all programmed to worship the same god of money and fear. This whole Western society, this upside down system, completely depends on the "sleeping people", their inability to take control of their own lives, and their unwillingness to wake up.

But the story doesn't end there. 

Not all of us are asleep. 

And not all of us will let the sleeping stay asleep.

Friend or Foe?

“How can you abandon a friend just like that? Have you no mercy?” demanded a friend of mine, after I had told her about ending my 10-year friendship with a mutual friend of ours. This happened a few years ago, and I have since come to terms with everything that happened, but I will never forget the judgement that was laid upon me in those words. I remember feeling immensely sad, but I was not going to be made to feel guilty.

It is incredibly difficult to completely cut off someone you had considered a close friend for years. I was wrestling with this thought for a long time. But my gut kept on telling me, that no matter how badly one might fuck up, there are certain things that one just would never do to a person one truly loves. I felt such deep betrayal of trust that I lost all respect for her. And the amount of lies, defamation and manipulation that came out of her after we had parted ways only showed further proof of her complete lack of compassion and truth. It was not love. She was not my friend.

So no, I did not “abandon” a friend. I shook off someone who was causing me pain, disguised in the concept of friendship. This experience made me learn very deeply that sometimes saying “no” to somebody is in truth saying “yes” to yourself. 

We must be very conscious of how the people we surround ourselves with treat us. The thought of losing someone, even if they have a negative effect on us, can be so scary, that we actually lie to ourselves that we like them. We subconsciously convince ourselves that we need them in our lives, because we are so afraid of ending up alone. But if our lives are constantly influenced by fear, how can we ever find the courage to meet new people or create better, more nourishing relationships?

What we have to understand is that we get what we believe we deserve. And I am by no means saying, that if one gets abused, it is because they did not believe they were worthy of loving treatment. But I believe, that only a person who in some way does not believe they are worthy of loving treatment would be able to stay in a destructive relationship.

If we truly want to be loved and believe we deserve it, there is no reason we should keep people who cannot love us in our lives. It really is as simple as that, and can be summed up in two words that we all need to learn how to put into practice: self-respect.

True Beauty

There is a campaign going against size discrimination in Instagram. It was started by a plus size girl whose account was removed after she posted pictures of herself posing in a bikini. Instagram is filled with half naked selfies, but apparently nakedness is only considered offensive if it involves a body of plus size. What does this tell about our society?

We all know the old saying “true beauty comes from within”. Yet it is not that easy to live by it. We are taught from a very young age to be very aware of the way we look. We judge each other by appearance, a lot of which is artificial. If I look into the adverts that the whole city of London is paved with, all I see is this kind of artificial beauty. We are surrounded by it. None of the models in the pictures seem to portray any real human character. Cold stares and fake smiles. Unnaturally perfect skin and thin waste lines. It is very easy to get lost in that world.

To me, a beautiful person is someone who is genuine. Someone who naturally makes other people around them feel good. These cities are filled with people dressed in beautiful garments, yet inside they are envious, greedy, poisonous. 

It does not matter how white your teeth are. If you are rotten inside, your smile is rotten. It does not matter if your eyelids are perfectly shaped, if in your eyes there is no depth. It does not matter if you have a perfectly fit body, if all that you do with it is take advantage of others. It does not matter if you wear the prettiest shade of red on your lips, if all that comes out of your mouth is negativity. And it does not matter how nicely you speak, if there is not an inch of truth in your words.

But we do not have to get caught up in that. We do not have to take part in the gossip groups of hateful people. We do not have to compare our looks to the looks of people obsessed with artificial beauty. We can focus our energies on creating good in this world. We can transform ourselves within, become the best possible people we can be, and leave the hopeless shallow worrying to the poor bastards who will never know what it truly is to feel good about themselves.