It never hurts to think good thoughts.
Hello, everyone. Smile. To start, thank you for keeping this blog in your collective “space”. Whether you are a subscriber (thank you) or have found this post through other means (thank you), I am always honored and humbled that you have taken the time to check it out. Blogging seasonally seems to be what works best for me, sometimes more and sometimes less. Sharing when it feels right. So thank you for being here now. I hope you’re having a good day/night wherever you are. Smile.
Today, I’m curious. Have you heard of KATSEYE?
KATSEYE is a newer global girl group consisting of six artists who were formed using the business model (training, artist development and fandom engagement) of the K-POP industry. On the group’s website, they state their goal: to change the look and sound of modern pop. To date, they have released several singles and EPs and a mini-album entitled Beautiful Chaos. The title of the album and the goal of the group seem to have captured the growing KATSEYE experience so far.
They have caught the attention (and opinions) of many in a relatively short amount of time!
Maybe this post is the first time you are hearing about the group. Or maybe you caught them on this year’s Grammys where they performed a song called “Gnarly” (which you either loved or did not) and were left feeling curious for more or were turned off and ready to move on. Maybe you are already a fan and have your own thoughts about what you’ve seen so far from the girls and where you hope they’ll go. Wherever you may be in regard to KATSEYE, they have a song that I heard for the first time this past weekend, and I still can’t stop thinking about its message. So, that is what I’d like to share with you today.
Sixteen seconds into the track called “Mean Girls”, KATSEYE softly delivers a line that speaks of learning to navigate this life and this world with a truly loving heart. “And yes,” they say, “God bless even the mean girls.”
When I heard those words coming through my car’s speakers, it hit me pretty deeply. What they are saying is Brave. It is something that is hard to hear, even for the kindest and most compassionate of human beings. It’s a notion that many do not agree with at all. There have been times when I’ve expressed ideas like this and the response isn’t usually great. Even for those who this does resonate with, it is still hard to put into committed practice. God bless the good, but God also bless the not-good. Not a popular stance for the average person to take, right?
Hmmm, I am suddenly uncomfortable with this topic. This is why: I can state with clarity that I do not know everything. Absolutely I do not. And as solidly as I often feel about things, I still understand deep within myself that I could be wrong. My experience in life could be vastly different than someone else’s which will lead us to have equally valid but completely different feelings. I have not experienced every experience there is to go through in life. I cannot possibly as one single human being contain the wisdom and skills needed to appropriately comment and weigh in on all the topics of the world that we humans have to deal with and figure out. I would never want a thought or opinion of mine to hurt someone else.
I can however identify when something isn’t working.
Meeting hate with hate, anger with anger, aggression with aggression … doesn’t look like it’s working. It just doesn’t.
I’m not even sure I can sit here and say that love is working either.
Wait. Typing that just now didn’t feel right. Love IS working. It’s just harder to see unless you stop and search for it. Love shows up in all kinds of ways. Sure, sometimes it’s BIG and bold. But this kind of endlessly patient Love isn’t usually loud in that way. It’s just always quietly doing its work. Non-stop. Quietly. putting. in. its. work.
Of this, I am sure. This is because I have seen and experienced this with my own eyes, ears, brain, hands, voice, my own heart. My soul.
A few days ago, my son and I were driving through Texas, or maybe we’d already reached New Mexico, when this song, “Mean Girls”, came on. We were listening to all of KATSEYE’s discography to get a better feel for their music because we knew a lot about “Gnarly” but wanted to see what else there might be. Outside, the passing landscape was that beautiful shade of “rural” and “agricultural” that is what I call the comfort of nature. Aside from a few other travelers, the road was open and the path ahead was gentle. It was a good time for this song to play. I wanted to talk about it with my son.
Not long ago, we’d seen the most recent Demon Slayer movie together. I told him, “Son, this song reminds me so much of Tanjiro, the way he always says a prayer for his enemy when he has ended one of their lives.” Tanjiro’s superpower is his compassion and as the spirit of his enemy passes on, he acknowledges their humanity, even though they have lost it along the way of life. Even though he had to end them to make them stop hurting others. He is hopeful for their soul, even in the face of their previous brutality and the ending of their current life.
It’s something I think about when I’m quiet and feeling hopeful.
I’m not saying to condone, dismiss, or be okay with the bad, cruel or evil things people do. It’s never okay to be mean to others or ourselves. It’s not okay to hurt others or ourselves.
I don’t know the answer to curing a soul suffocated by malice and horrible thoughts or deeds.
I have experienced hate, violence and death just like many people. I wish bad things didn’t happen to us. The reality is that they do. I have reacted in the past to such things with anger and fear and total, unsympathetic harsh judgment. Somewhere along the way though, I started realizing that reacting that way never, not a single time, made me feel better, nor did it make a positive difference. It just left me frustrated and primed to not bother trying.
Thankfully, I soon discovered something else.
As long as we don’t give up, this extreme frustration can lead us to think outside the box.
I started to think, “Could there be a different way for me to approach things? What in the world could that even be for one small person?”
“In a gentle way, you can shake the world.” ~ Gandhi. This quote showed up in something I read one day and stuck with me.
Somewhere along the way, I started wondering if when I said my prayers, asking blessings for all my loved ones and all the good people of the world, did that feel whole? Complete? Or was I perhaps leaving out an entire block of people who really needed help. That’s all. I just started thinking that it was okay if I asked God to help those who were doing bad things to stop doing those things. To learn a different way of living. To have someone or something come into their lives that would lead them on a better path. That’s all. It’s not easy or popular to feel this way or believe this could be the right way. I’m gonna keep doing it though.
It can’t hurt.
Thank you, KATSEYE, for the reminder that it’s okay to want someone to be better, especially when they’ve been bad in the past. Maybe through compassion, we can all change the look and sound of modern society. Maybe this is one of those good opinions for the masses to adopt, whether it’s popular or not.
My ending thought for today: Please bless ALL life here on earth, no matter what side we may fall on. So that someday, we can more and more be on the same side. Thank you.
With love,
Carlene
CARLENE LOVE FLORES 