On Being Humane
A solution to inhumanity
Journal: 3 July, 2025, morning.
Humanity is the solution to inhumanity.
So today? Go out there and be humane. Be humane in BUCKETS. Flood people with kindness. Tell (at least) five people you love them. Can’t think of five people you love? Well then, get to work on that shortage. Love is a verb. Too.
Bless people with your words. Be extravagant with your praise. Rain down sweet nothings on the checker at the grocery store (she does have an amazing smile, doesn’t she?).
Give the benefit of the doubt to that person who drives you crazy. What? No one drives you crazy? I bow to your magnificence, oh Saint that you are!
Forgive yourself for those things which we kindly won’t mention here. Shhhhh.
Affirm life. Donate to Save the Whales. Become a bird watcher. Support your local animal shelter (seriously). Buy fewer plastics. Turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth. Shower with your lover and save water (snuck that one in there, didn’t I? 😁)
No dagger-like looks at the person who ever so slowly oooched through the yellow light requiring you to sit through two more light changes. Breathe. Keep breathing. You’ll live.
Pick a “go fund me” and donate some money. And then say a prayer of gratitude that you have the glorious good fortune of being the one donating and not the donatee. And while you’re doing this, resolve to vote for things that will reduce the need for people to have to use “go fund me” as a health insurance plan.
And for the ones who are doing the inhumane things purposefully and with seeming glee? Oh, man, this a tough one. But we—somehow—have to figure out how to do the right thing in the right way. Right? So VERY HUMANELY, do your best to change their attitudes, and if that’s not successful, do your best to meet and counter their inhumane actions with humane actions.
Humanity is the solution to inhumanity. Just keep repeating that to yourself.  Let it be your mantra. If you are into tattooing, possibly consider not getting a tattoo of it, although it is tattoo worthy. They’re just so permanent, you know.  Maybe just write it in ink on your arm. Semi permanent ink. #smallsteps
And take a deep breath, and hold it, and then exhale slowly. Relax your shoulders. Let them drop down and wiggle them around. Bend over and shake your hands out, like you used to do in dance class. Remember: this is not a 50 yard dash. This is a marathon. And you need different muscles for a marathon than you do for a sprint. Especially heart muscles.
Well, I don’t know about you, but I have encouraged my own self in the writing of this journal for today. And I think that I have done it humanely, calling attention to the things we need to change without being rude or unkind to the ones we want desperately to see people in a different way than they currently do. To paraphrase a classic saying: how we treat anyone is how we treat everyone, in the end.
May peace (and humaneness) be with you today.
#journalingalife