Violence is fractal

The kiddo was holding the weekend edition of a national newspaper with both hands. He was standing less than two feet away from me. Then, he inquired about all the horror the world was witnessing these days. He looked terribly puzzled. Sad. Perhaps, afraid.

I babbled a few words about the many wonderful things the world is home to, but he didn’t react to it. He insisted on how horrible it was.

I told him how love was the ultimate driving force of all the heated messages on social media. Expressed in anger, frustration, and pain, yes; but born out of love for people. I also mentioned that powerful voices are working on restoring bridges where burned, and activists are guarding words, so they don’t lose their meaning. I topped my speech by saying “I am optimistic!”. Yet, he didn’t react. He seemed unable to keep his sight out of the picture of crumbled buildings under his eyes.

Then, I left. Puzzled. Sad. Very sad.