CHAINED

This happened yesterday in Florida.

“To see people from different races and genders come into action to help TOTAL strangers is absolutely amazing to see!! People who didn’t even know each other went HAND IN HAND IN A LINE, into the water to try and reach them. Pause and just IMAGINE that.” (Jessica Simmons, a rescuer)

This is an idea we’ve been working on for a while. We seem to have an almost unlimited capacity to tear down walls and help each other in the midst of crisis, without considering the things that typically separate us. When the threat subsides, the walls return.

Where is the line? What’s the threshold we cross that causes us to see each other as people, not objects? What can we do to remain in a state of suspended judgment? Nearly all of us would dive in and hold on for dear life to this human chain. Nearly all of us would celebrate the nobility of this kind of heroism. Then, as soon as our clothes were dry and the endorphins had run their course, most of us would revert to the status quo of distrust and side-eyed cynicism.