A couple text posts ago, I wrote about a friend, hoping that as I typed out the post I could possibly see things in her shoes and write a text post that was full of empathy and understanding, but it just turned into a speculative rant. Long story short, he/she hypocritically tried to shove ‘the real world’ down my throat.
But I don’t think I’ve ever come close to fully understanding why so many people around me have, well, done the same. Everyone thinks reality is concrete. It’s unfortunate to me that this take on the world around seems universally common. But it isn’t concrete, it’s this preconceived notion of ‘the real world’ that causes everything to fall apart despite its universally accepted-ness.
Digression ensues.
I mean there’s no universal scale about what upsets and hurts someone. Everything that hurts people, hurts them for a reason. Many times the reasons won’t be understood and be thought of as silly and trivial, but saying that someone else has it worse is unjustified and bluntly, a rather stupid thing to do. Why? Because someone will always have it worse. See, if we operate under that aspect of ‘the real world’, then no one would be able to feel hurt, ever.
People don’t get hurt because the things the worst things anyone could ever imagine have happened to them. Hurt happens because the things that have happened have had some emotional attachment, part in our lives, or even a special place in our heart. There are different circumstances for each and every one of us. No set or concrete standard of hurt exists that needs to be met before we can break down, cry, have our hearts ache, etc. To say there is, is ignorant and laughs in the face of everything we’re all capable of : empathy, love, and kindness.
But, alas, this standard seems to have developed and manifested, preventing us from the understanding we are capable of and instead let us determine what others around us can and cannot do and judge those around us. This , is what causes us to, metaphorically speaking, fall apart. So often, we either are ashamed of or conceal everything about us that doesn’t meet the status quo, although not limited to our problems and emotions. So in lieu of divulging ourselves in order to relieve that ‘heavy burden on our chest’ that so many fictional characters speak of disappearing after long heartfelt conversations or dramatic confessions, we bottle it all up and satiate it in the depths of ourselves, but breaking points are inevitable.
I think reality is like religion. It’s something we often take comfort in, in this vast world of not knowing and never ending mysteries yet to be unraveled. It’s something we’d like to have faith in, because its there, its sensible, and generally accepted. But like all religions, not everyone chooses to accept and live by it - adopting his/her own beliefs, while others take to believing in it in the most extreme.
Reality is but a perception, not a standard. I mean there is no universal scale of hurt.
Although, I’m not sure if the same can be said for Kim Kardashian.
