I have been reading The Malazan Book of the Fallen for about 3 years now, it’s 20 books or so, I’m not gonna go count. It’s quite a long story, epic doesn’t begin to describe it, suffice to say. But that’s not why I’m here.

There are two authors that write in the world. The more prolific of the two, Erikson, and author of the “main series” is very focused on compassion as a theme throughout that series. Wanted to share a quote from his work.

“We humans do not understand compassion. In each moment of our lives, we betray it. Aye, we know of its worth, yet in knowing we then attach to it a value, we guard the giving of it, believing it must be earned. Compassion is priceless in the truest sense of the word. It must be given freely. In abundance.”

Steve Erikson, “Memories of Ice”

The kindest gift we can give someone is a little more patience, a little more understanding, and a little more warmth than they expected.

Sometimes the kindest thing you can give someone is not advice, money, or answers, but a moment in which they do not have to pretend they are okay. You may never know how much lighter you made their day simply by listening, noticing, or staying.

I speak up for what I believe in: compassion for all creatures.

I speak up in r/cathelp, where someone had found a pregnant cat (Title: is she preggy and if so, what do I do!!).

I am shocked to see that most of the commenters were calling for the kittens to be aborted.

I speak for compassion for the kittens, who are defenseless and have no voice.

I speak for compassion for the mother cat, as the spay/abort is major surgery and has serious side effects.

I am "voted down."

I comment with a picture of a small kitten, and the caption, "LOVE ME. I WANT TO SEE THE SUNSHINE. I WANT TO SIT ON YOUR LAP AND PURR AND LOVE YOU."

I am then banned from r/cathelp.

I am in alot of pain right now, and any positive responses would be greatly appreciated.

The solution to our loss of humanity might be to infect each other with an idea; the idea to go out of your way from now on to take pleasure in doing something to make another person feel seen and loved, as much and as consistently as seems reasonable. We teach others how to love by showing them love, checking in to make sure they feel that love, and finally using that information to determine if what we chose to do to show them love was successful or not.

This leads us to what kind of person you are. Are you the type of person willing to show a lotta extra love to strangers for awhile? Are you willing to sacrifice a little sliver of yourself in an attempt to really show someone how we love each other? Sacrifice by enduring the icky and fucked up feelings that can come with showing love to someone that is actively resisting the idea that they may be wrong, confused, or misled about what love really is.

This virus spreads at a speed determined by how often you (and them, and you over there… ) go out of your way to make someone feel seen and cared for.

Your success at spreading it relies on how gracefully you learn from your experiences, as well as good faith intentions.

I dunno. What do you think? How do we keep our fellow humans; our brothers and sisters from hurting each other? From not trusting each other … or their own eyes…. before it’s too late?