I wrote this a while ago, and I've posted it before. Lately I've been tired and frustrated and afraid, not least because so many people in my country have been ruinously hateful, self-absorbed, and unkind. Sometimes when I'm hurting or upset, doing something nice for someone else helps me get my mind right. Maybe these words won't be inspirational or compelling or thought-provoking for most. Maybe someone will find them touching or meaningful. Whatever the case, I'm setting them in their little boat once more and launching them into the world. Listen:

Everyone wants what they want, and it's fine. As long as they're not taking something away from someone else unfairly, it's fine. I think people write down what movies they like and music they listen to here because they don't know how to ask for what they want. Maybe I don't know how to make room in my life for someone, and maybe I'm not worth making room for. But listen:

I will protect you.

I will not keep you from all hardship and pain; that’s a fool’s errand for even the greatest man, and I am far from that. I will do my best to ease them, a little bit. Character and strength are built from hardship and pain, and even you will have your share of them throughout your life. When you are at your most vulnerable, your weakest, your most fearful or frustrated, I will be there to share your burden. I will soothe your anger and your pain and your grief, and I will add my strength to your strength. We shall both be made stronger.

I will sustain you.

I will not work to ensure that you never have to work again; that will only make you dependent and take away your power. We all have to work, every day. We work to improve ourselves and to supply ourselves with agency in whatever might befall us, and whatever we might accomplish. But when you are weary or in need, I will share with you all that I have: food, yes, and shelter, but also knowledge and experience. Whatever I have, anything that will help you survive and grow--physically, spiritually, mentally--I will gladly surrender to you, safe in the understanding that you supply for my needs and growth as well, physically, spiritually, and mentally.

I will lift you up.

I will not put you on a pedestal, apart from the world. Rather I will lift your heart up and show you the joy, the wonder, the beauty that I find in the world every day. When you’re at your lowest, of course, I will try to lift your spirits and allow you to see all the wonders of the world through my eyes. But even when you need no support, I will lift you still higher. All the joy and the beauty that I find in the world I will share with you. The beauty I find in you I will share with you when you don’t see it yourself. Every thing that thrills me, that makes me laugh every day will thrill you and make you laugh. I will soar on your updraft and be entranced by the beauty and wonder of the world through your eyes as well, even when I am trampled down.

I will not be the thing that makes your life worth living. I don’t have that power, and never want it. You will be the thing that makes your life worth living. I will do my best to enhance that life, to multiply its joys and cut down its sorrows. I will protect you, I will sustain you, I will lift you up. Apart, we are strong and brave and beautiful. Together, we cannot lose, no matter what befalls us.

Listen:

I'm not writing this because I think I'm going to fall in love with someone and live happily together forever. I'm writing this because I think people forget sometimes. I think people need to hear a different perspective, because they can focus on the wrong things. I think we can all have a great deal of love in our lives. We all deserve it, if we only knew how to give it away.