"We're all mad here..."

Over the past several weeks, the Chesire Cat's words have been repeating over and over in my head. It truly seems as if the world has gone crazy. The Supreme Court's nonsensical ruling in the Hobby Lobby case. The shooting down of the Malaysian airliner in Ukraine. The devastating ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. The daily reports of gun violence in the U. S. The frightening increase in violent misogynistic attacks on women. The list goes on and on.  Most days, I just want to crawl back under the covers and hide. I want to be done with humanity.

And apparently I'm not the only one. A couple of days ago, author Neil Gaiman posted this on Twitter:

Feeling absolutely helpless in the face of the madness and violence of the world. I'm making things up to keep sane. I'm in control there.
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) July 24, 2014

As Gaiman is doing, we each need to find our way to stay sane in the face of madness.  I'm lucky to have a network of friends and family around me to keep me grounded and pull me out the muck when I'm sinking.

However, at the same time, we also have to confront the madness. I read; I stay informed; I try to do little things to make a change in my immediate surroundings. It's not easy. Hatred has deep roots, and, like most weeds, doesn't go away the first time you pull it up. Often it comes back with a vengeance. But if we give up, say what's happening elsewhere doesn't affect us, we allow those weeds to flourish. We are all part of humanity. We are all responsible for what happens. We have to speak up. We don't have to change the world by ourselves. But if we can affect just one person's life for the better, we're on the right path.