Something to believe in...

I recently had a friend tell me that she no longer believes in Santa Claus. Yes, this is a grown person so I am taking the liberty of inferring that it is not so much the red-suited portly gentleman that she no longer believes in but rather the spirit of Christmas that Santa embodies... a lack of faith in basic human nature.

I have been pondering that since she said it (albeit via a tweet... ahh, technology) and here's my response:

I don't mean this to be at all condescending or to sound like I am trying to patronizing, that isn't the goal. I've been around long enough that in large part I tend to find myself very cynical/jaded and perhaps disenchanted with many, many aspects of life but I do believe that there is still good to be found. Good beyond the inherent goodness of kittens and puppies and other creatures we do not think of as having no capacity to choose whether they love/are loyal. I've seen creatures treated so horribly that they have absolutely no reason to love anyone turn out to be some of the best companions alive. That they had to suffer at all again leads me down the path to wonder if there is any good left out there in the world.

But, Dru, it does exist. The tiny spark is there. You have to look so very hard to see it sometimes and there are times when things seem so horribly dark and horribly horrible that you lose sight of it, but it is there.

Every time I falter in my belief that there is good in the world, I go have another look at this. Or this. And believe me, I KNOW it's hard to feel like things are going to be ok. I see what's going on in the world (even though I avoid the news as much as possible).

Maybe I missed what you were saying and it isn't that you doubt humanity and that it is a case of knowing that there will be no reindeer poo upon your rooftop this year that truly has you down. Maybe it's just the fact that miracles are too few and far between. Maybe people are right and things really are craptastic and I just have a Pollyanna attitude and want to see good where it doesn't really exist. But it's my ability to see beyond the neck-deep crap I wade through sometimes that keeps me going. I hope you will find the faith to go forward and not think the world is a complete clusterfuck.

And, on that note, I am going to take my tired self to bed. Yes, at 7:30AM. Because I believe that maybe things will look brighter if I just close my eyes for a while.