Mobscene

I had an earlier version of this entry, but it wasn't to my satisfaction, so I will attempt to write it again. In short, I wished to shed light on the psychology of the mob, and the danger of elevating someone to a celebrity status. I hope I can do my thoughts justice this time around, so here goes.

It seems the best way to be a force of good in this world is to somehow do it anonymously, drawing as little attention to oneself as possible to avoid becoming a celebrity to the people. I say this out of fear of the mob - I hate to refer to us as such, for we are all beautiful people in our own way, but I do so given the tendencies I've witnessed - latching onto this figure and elevating her/him to iconic status, ignoring the message in the process. Don't get me wrong: it is necessary for someone, now and again, to stand up for what is right and show us the light, but once shown the light, then what? Do we sing our leader's praises, or take it upon ourselves to carry out the task set forth by her/him? Do we mob her/him in an attempt to grab a piece of her/his greatness for ourselves, or do we recognize this greatness within us and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with her/him, as we would with one another?

As an example - and I cite this out of familiarity - I wish to use the story of Jesus the Christ, and his (or her, for all we know) ascent from humble being to folk hero to idol. Here was someone whose interest was to spread a message of love and hope in a time of despair, whose bloodied image is now worshiped the world over. To me, it seems Jesus the Christ as icon is more important than the message he intended to share with his fellow human beings, a message of love and compassion. If we love him so much, why do we kneel before the image of his murder? Why do we not love our neighbour as we do him? Why do we spend so much time praying for our own souls when the solution is so simple, when the seed has been planted within each of us? How did a humble servant of Mother Earth and all her creatures give birth to a two-thousand-year-old institution of obedience?

I worry that we do all of this - following our leaders like sheep in a flock - as a result of our lack of faith in ourselves to be good people. I want this not to be the case, for, as I said earlier, each one of us is beautiful; each one of us is brilliant. Why do we insist on these icons? Would it be any different if, say, Dolores from down the block expressed the same love and compassion Jesus the Christ did? Why don't we form a mob around Dolores as she walks to the grocery store? Why don't we erect statues of her? Where is the Church of Dolores? I understand the need for guidance in life, and I understand the desire to express gratitude to our teachers for said guidance, but I worry when we make idols of them.

Let us all have faith in ourselves to do the right thing, which is easy when we allow love to be our guide in life. This is probably the most important lesson I've learned in my twenty-seven-and-a-half years out of my mother's womb - I humbly thank my teachers, who are really the people I've known and met, for teaching this to me.

On a final note, I wish to apologize if my entries of late seem rather sappy. I assure you, I expelled copious amounts of anger over the years on account of letting my ill feelings accumulate within me, and I despised every minute of it. Yes, I'm still prone to frustration at times, but these days, anger is replaced by melancholy as my feeling of disapproval: a loving heart can easily be a broken one.

You are all brilliant, each and every one.