scream

Catfish live on the bottom of rivers, down there with the mud, leeches and garbage. We can only imagine what it's like and the picture is creepy. When you catch one they break the surface like monsters from a different planet, and really, they sort of are. This freaked my boy out, floating in a little boat, surrounded by murky water with god knows what lurking in the depths beneath us. We didn't know when or where they would latch on and emerge, mouths agape as the worlds collide. He was uncomfortable and rightly so. So instead of waiting timidly for them to come to us, we took our world to them. With a big breath of fresh air and sunlight he stuck his head into his fear and screamed at the unknown. He yelled into that river, letting everything below know he's here and he's ready. To push back against what scared him was empowering.
Everything has an opposite. Dark and light, sweet and sour, good and evil. I've been trying to process that fact during this post VT shooting week. Regardless of which side you choose, the opposite is inescapable. The last seven days I've been focusing on the negatives, throwing up my hands and surrendering to the destructiveness, figuring it's just a way of life. No matter what, the evil will always be here so shut the door guard my good. This morning I took a different position; yeah, evil will always be here but so will good. I'm tired of looking for ways to compartmentalize everything. I'm going to do my best to stick my head in and yell. Push back against what scares us and invest in what we believe.
There's really nothing to lose at this point; let's make some gains.