Ugly Things

Someone posted a pic of a female comedian with a caption (that was quite funny and something I totally related to). Every *single* comment thereafter was negative, and not about what she said at all. They attacked her look, her mannerisms, her funniness quotient. And I'm sitting here upset for someone I don't even know. What is so threatening about a woman who decides to be funny instead of pretty, or in this case-both?! And when does being a public figure make it alright for people to just attack for no real reason at all? I keep being disappointed in the way people deal with things.... :( Everyone is someone's somebody. Would you like it if those things were said about yours?!

 The internet is a funny place. You can say whatever you want, good or bad. You can knee jerk response all over the place, and since everyone knows your best reactions are always in the heat of the moment, Captain Internet makes all of those words available for anyone to see, ever. Seriously. For.Ev.Er.

 Obviously, this hits a little close to home for me as of late. And that's cool. It was a necessary lesson to learn; my skin needed a little thickening. I can guarantee you that I survived, that I'm well, and that I'm actually better off for it. As much negativity was floating around out there, you should see some of the positive things as well. I hope everyone has people in their lives who step up and support them privately. It literally means the world to me when someone reaches out to me. I don't know if I would have been this appreciative a month ago.

 I know I can get a little hippie-ish in my wants for peace and everyone to get along. I also know that the adversity I've faced throughout my life has made me capable of handling what comes my way. The cliches are nice to hear, like when someone tells me that the only reason people lash out like that is because they feel threatened? That's pretty cool. It beats the hell out of me actually thinking I am a terrible person! My mother always told me I was a force to be reckoned with (I think she was the first one to figure it out, actually. I've been told this a lot of times along the way!). So, yay!? Except it's never EVER been my intent to be this powerful person who should be feared or acknowledged out of fear. Honestly, I wish everyone understood that. I never try to tear people down. I refuse to live like that... I think we all can be successful and be the best people we are capable of being! So, what's to feel threatened by, exactly?

Ideally, though, people would stop attacking what they don't understand. One of my goals as of late is to take time to understand a situation as much as I can. See the angles of it. Appreciate the opposing side's views and reasoning. Consider if I am, in fact, wrong. Grow. Isn't the goal always to grow?

At the end of the day, maybe this is part of that woman's journey. Maybe it's good to see ugly things written about yourself. Consider and conclude, change what you must. Grow. I just hope she has people in her life as awesome as the people in mine. <3