I've often heard people say that I live in Care Bears Wonderland, those people who get involved in charities trying to create a better world live in Care Bears wonderland, these parties where everyone is so high that they care for each other is Care Bears wonderland…
Like it was a fantasy, a world that only exists in certain places and times, and that is really just cute, but this is not the real world, like not at all!
In the real world being nice is letting people use you, in the real world choosing love is almost ridiculous. Because in the real world, you need to fight, you need to fit in, you need to do what you are told.
I have one thing to say: you live in the world you choose.
To go a little deeper, I’m thinking about that TedTalk from Yazzie Min @standforhumanity where she talks about refugee camps in Calais where she regularly goes. And about love.
She says we often see love as "this fluffy thing that doesn’t really count for much" … But there, it’s not that commercial, overrated love it’s about. This is a powerful, "fierce, moving mountain, reason we’re alive kind of love" … The only thing that is left when there is nothing else left. This is a love we choose and that asks for courage. Unlimited courage and vulnerability. This is not fluffy, this is not cute, this is even less ridicule or weak.
Funny I just stumbled across a story from @lesaventurieres’ founder, the magnificent Laure Jouteau, and she says it so well (this is my modest translation): “On paper, everyone wants love but most of us spend their life running from it, because this level of intensity freaks us out. Love is not a nice care bear thing, this is the force of infinity in your face.” And bam!
I am not sure I know what Care Bears wonderland looks like, but I know very well what people say when they say I live in Care Bears wonderland with this contempt of people “who get it, and I don’t.” Because in the state of the world right now, that’s a bit childish to think that people want to contribute more than anything else, and that if you choose love of yourself, the world and the universe, the world will be a better place. That’s puerile to rely on this idea…
And still, choosing kindness and love isn’t easy. This is not shutting up to keep the peace, that’s the opposite of that, this is telling your truth because this is the single most important thing you can do. This is not giving yourself up to save the world, this is choosing yourself, so you offer the very best of you to the world. This is simple, and yet it requires endless courage. So, it kind of makes me laugh a bit all those people and their disdain for the “Care Bears wonderland.” Because I know, this isn’t fluffy or cute. This is fucking badass. Strong & Powerful. We live in the world we choose. You can choose to live in this “Care Bears Wonderland.” Just know it will require all the courage you have in store, and it will require everything of you. And it is beautiful. We are born to love, ourselves, others, the world. We choose. Always. If we don’t choose love, what do we choose?