our missing hearts

 Each day I awake and I strive for positivity. I find it in many things because I am very fortunate, I live in a beautiful place, I have a good job with a good team, and it is flexible. I find joy in researching new topics such as places of interest, people of interest (writers and musicians) and I plan little trips. I read books and listen to music, or I do an online course in history, government, security, technology, communication, etc. I create via blogs, podcasts and videos… but this is sometimes where I am simply unable to control myself. If I witness an injustice, I feel the need to speak about it. If I feel that rights are being taken away or life is being made worse, more difficult, for no reason, I rally against the sheer ignorance or greed that leads to such things. That in turn brings me down because I want to be constructive and lead through light rather than darkness, but sometimes we have no choice other than to resist. 

                  I’m currently reading Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng, and this beautifully written book focuses on the censorship of books and political dissent all in the name of ‘patriotism’ and ‘safety.’ As China is marked out as the ‘great threat’ to America in the book, Chinese literature, culture, people are targeted and, as is often the case, most people simply target all Asians regardless of their origin. It’s terrifying to live at a time when an American citizen lives with anxiety about their right to free speech. However, when we look at history, we have had times that have been arguably worse. For example, the Cold War meant that people were literally being turned in by their neighbours for being ‘communist.’ That must have been really scary. And many musicians have been targeted through various means for their political commentary. 

                  Therefore, I will end off by saying that I am grateful for the things that we can say and do and obtain. Grateful for music and literature and science… and I will fight against those who try to take our rights away. 


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