It's OK to feel Happiness in times of Conflict

Friend: You always do stupid stuff when you drink

Me: No I don't...

Me after a few drinks: Hold my beer...

I've done this. No, seriously I'm that person.

I was with my best friend and I jumped right into a fountain after the club one night with some random guy. We took pictures, tried to do tricks, and just all around had a good time. I tried to talk my friend into it and she was Not having it. The fountain is quite gross frankly. Haha. I was known for doing random stuff like this when I was younger and some of them a little more recently.

It was a good laugh to remember that. When I posted the meme to my Instagram stories this morning responses and reactions flooded in because 1: it's funny and 2: I think people appreciate even the slightest break from the current racial crisis and the coronavirus.

It serves as a little reminder that we do actually get along and that as whole mankind tends to want to be good.

Cities are burning across the country and hospitals are still filled with the sick and dying. Yet I feel hope because people are finally connecting. People are creating and stepping up. Leaders are forming right before our very eyes. They are leading protests, speaking to journalists on tv, and handing out information how how to protect one another from the coronavirus and violent protests. Then on the other side artists are creating some of their best work this year.

We consume art every time we log onto Instagram. It is my favorite social platform for that sole reason. Every picture and every quote is part of that person's masterpiece. In my Vocal piece 'for the love of my beloved country' towards the end I talk about how we consume filtered (subjective) opinions through social media just for the simple fact that it feeds our need to connect with other people. Now whether that connection is successfully made or not depends on the content and that is why Instagram is so special. Art asks you the same question every time you consume it - "Do you understand what is being said?" - Instagram says answer the question and we do every time we tap that heart or scroll pass the picture/video. You don't have to agree with the content or even like it but you still get asked the same question. This is huge especially in times of conflict because of the context of which the content was created.

Art has always served as a catalyst to change. The people who create it have a responsibility to push discussions...

...and/or make people feel uncomfortable.

People all across the world are fulfilling that responsibility, they are constantly reminding us that nobody is in any situation alone. So when memes like the one I posted pop up and they trigger the old memories that brought strangers together and helped solidify established friendships, they remind everyone involved that it is okay to also feel happiness and peace during times of conflict. That the light at the end of the tunnel of these conflicts is reachable because these little glimpses of the past prove it.

We just need to continue to connect.

Today is the most positive I have felt about the events going on around the country in weeks. All because of a simple blast from the past that started with my routine Instagram check when I woke this morning that a random stranger posted. I shared it and it brought smiles to multiple people's faces offering them even just the tiniest bit of relief during these trying times.

Connection, connection, connection. That's the only theme among all this that matters. We can not change/progress anything without one another so we need to share our art responsibly with one another.