The Fragility of Humanity

There seems to be no escape. News, it seems, is like water: Slipping through the tiniest of cracks, seeking out its target. From scrolling headlines during non-news related shows, to social media, we cannot seem to get away from hearing about the fragility of humanity.

A few days ago, citizens of Paris were (again) thrust into the world's spotlight. Terrorists, intent on winning whatever game they believe we all are playing, killed over 100 people. 

Innocent.
Defenseless.
Fragile.

People around the world have shown solidarity with Paris, through overlaid Facebook profile images, through lighted candles, prayers gatherings, etc, etc, etc. I've heard many ask, "What good is a display of support? What we need is to put an end, once and for all, to extremism."

But what these people overlook, what they cannot or refuse to see is that the fragility of humanity comes in countless expressions. And of all these expressions, fear is the most damning.

You may ask, "How does fear come into play with terrorists?" The answer is simple: Those who use terror as their statement of power, do so to bury, deny, mitigate their fears. They are fearful of not belonging. Fearful of being outcasted, being ignored, being seen as insignificant, useless, wholly unimportant. They scream with guns, knives and bombs, "See me! Hear me! I am significant. I matter."

So many guise their fears by accepting a way of life, prescribed and designed by others, who also share their same fears.

It is the ultimate expression of our shared, universal fragility.

We are innocent.
We are defenseless.
We are fragile.

To follow when we are too unsure to lead.
To listen when we are too conflicted to speak.
To do when we are too lost to wait.

There is no harm in showing your support, your solidarity with Paris, just know it won't accomplish anything lasting. So long as humanity stands apart from itself, there will be more places, more people and more events, catastrophic or mundane, that will beg for your solidarity.

Change your profile pic.
Send money.
Send prayers.
Demand change.
Demand the reversal of change.

Then sit, wait and return, as best you can, to improving your own expressions of your fears. 

As an author, I create lives. I give my characters strengths, weaknesses, habits, humor, hatred, love, broken hearts, life and death. But I do not need to breathe fragility into them. That, it seems, comes standard with humanity.

My main character in my Derek Cole Series, is no stranger to fear. No stranger to the human condition and far from a stranger to the many expressions of fragility of humanity.