Our world needs love

I think we all know something happened recently in Paris; and in the world, to be honest. 
I don't want to say much about it, but I do feel the need to share this because it's...brilliant. 

Waleed Aly is one journalist I respect and admire a whole lot, he is incredibly intelligent and well-spoken, he knows what he is talking about - and that is powerful.



ISIL is WeakWaleed talks about how we can stop ISIL #TheProjectTVWritten by Waleed and Tom Whitty (@twhittyer)
Posted by The Project on Monday, November 16, 2015

I know videos can feel like effort sometimes, but it is truly worth watching if you have a spare 5 minutes, it really educates and speaks to you. They are by no means saying that any specific person or group is behind what has happened (you'll understand fully if you watch the video), but, I have taken what really hit me and popped it below:

“They want you to fear them. They want you to get angry. They want all of us to become hostile and here is why: “ISIL’s strategy is to split the world into two camps. It is that black and white. Again we know this because they told us.” It’s that black and white…They want societies like France and here in Australia, to turn on each other. We as a society, as a community, need to be very mindful of maintaining and protecting our social cohesion, our sense of harmony and standing together. They want countries like ours to reject their Muslims and vilify them. ISIL’s leaders would be ecstatic to hear that that Muslims have been reportedly threatened and attacked in England, America and here in Australia, because this evil organisation has it in their heads that if they can make Muslims the enemy of the West, then Muslims in France and England and America and here in Australia will have nowhere to turn but to ISIL…That was exactly their strategy in Iraq. And now they want it to go global. Saying that out loud, it is both dumbfounding in its stupidity and blood-curdling in its barbarity.

We are all feeling a million raging emotions right now. I am angry at these terrorists. I am sickened by the violence and I am crushed for the families that have been left behind, but, you know what, I won't be manipulated. We all need to come together. I know how that sounds. I know it's a cliche but it's also true because it's exactly what ISIL doesn't want. So if you're a member of Parliament or a has-been member of Parliament preaching hate at a time when what we actually need is more love, you are helping ISIL. They have told us that. If you are just someone with a Facebook or Twitter account firing off misguided missives of hate, you are helping ISIL. They have told us that. I am pretty sure that right now none of us wants to help [them]."

I think the main thing to take away from this is that in a world where things like this can happen, where some people feel like they can do things like recent events, 
we need to create so much love and so much light. 
So much unity. 
So much power.

And on a related note, again I don't want to add to many words to it, because these images below speak for themselves.

(I apologise in advance for the blurry photos you are about to see, I will fix them ASAP, but until then - the words are readable and that's all that matters).

An individual by the name of Karuna Parikh, wrote this poem:



And then there was this...

When I was talking to about this to my friends, one replied with this:

 
To be honest, there's a lot of truth in all the things above. Look - anything that unites us as a front, shows our support for those going through tough times, helps educate people and gets a message across, is something I'm all for.

I don't think any of the thoughts above are judgemental, but I do think they have been written to point out a very important issue - one we should all be aware of.
Social media posts, DP filters, hashtags - they're all well and good, but our thoughts, words and actions speak even louder; how we conduct ourselves as a united society is what speaks volumes.

 Love and light to every single corner of the world, 
whether a spotlight is being shone there at the moment - or not. 
Every part of the world needs and deserves it.

If you managed to make it to the end of this rant, thank you. I would love to hear your thoughts more than ever, share this with people who you think would want to contribute to the discussion. 
Random, personal, more lighthearted note if you can be bothered reading even more stuff from me - after I've put a whole essay of a post up :P

-LIFE UPDATE BEGINS-

To fellow bloggers: I just want to start out by saying I apologise if your notifications got spammed with comments from me on your posts from earlier on in the week. 

I have just finished all my exams, so needless to say - I've been attempting to catch up on life! :P 

For some reason, this exam block I was strangely motivated?
I was pulling 8am-8pm, sometimes 10pm, days at my uni library. 
Like I said, strangely motivated, but hey! 
Wasn't going to question it, was just going to roll with it :P 

That being said, I was sooo concentrated on studying and I may have driven myself to the point of exhaustion...because once exams ended, I was in such a weird mood!?! 

I wanted to sleep for sure (but that is me, always :P). However, does it ever happen to you guys that if you've been super busy and focused on one thing, or have been having a busy, exciting week, you get almost withdrawals or hit a massive slump after?

Anyways, hopefully once I get some proper rest, I should be good as new!
I do have a crazy hectic week coming up which you're sure to hear about in the next few posts :P 

-LIFE UPDATE ENDS-

New blog post will be up next Tuesday!!! 

Until then, you can: Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Or follow me below at - 
They're all linked so you should just be able to click on them! :)

Have a great rest of the week!

❤️Raashi





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41 comments:

  1. Miranda | Miranda's Notebook17 November 2015 at 04:14

    It was so awful to wake up to the news on Saturday. Saving the video you've linked to watch later.

    Congratulations on finishing your exams btw. I hope you get plenty of time for some R&R now!! xxx

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    1. It took us all by shock I think.

      Thank you Miranda, I am most definitely holding out for some rest soon! Haha. :)

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  2. I really appreciated this post, and that you marked that we should not pray for Paris, but for the entire world, since there are places in Africa where these attacks happen daily.
    Also congrats on finishing your exams, I wish I could be that motivated too!

    http://www.notesofglam95.blogspot.it/

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    1. Thank you Vanessa, I just feel like the importance of one event shouldn't be seen as as detracting from the importance of other events. Places where attacks occur like this and they aren't highlighted in the media, doesn't make Paris any less important - we just need to be more aware of our world (at least, in my opinion).

      Thank you! Haha, I was so strangely motivated this semester - hopefully the motivation is here to stay! :P

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  3. Oh Raashi, such a thought provoking post as usual. I listened to Waleed Aly with great interest and he makes a lot of great points. What it all boils down to though is that innocent people are being killed and hurt all over the world and wherever they are, it needs to stop. And the last thing we should do is tear the world apart when that's exactly what is wanted! xxx

    Ps. Congratulations with finishing the exams!! Hope you are celebrating!!

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    1. Thank you SO much Emily, that means more than you know to me. I feel like he laid out the facts so simple and straight, educating us in a lot more depth than random headlines and single sentences/paragraphs do. "And the last thing we should do is tear the world apart when that's exactly what is wanted!" - THIS. That is the perfect summation, we need to show strength and unity in times of adversity.

      Thank you once again, Emily. Your comments always make my day :)

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  4. I couldn't quite believe what I was seeing on Friday evening it was so awful. Thanks for taking the time to write this post, it's real food for thought! And congrats on finishing your exams - I hope celebrations loom large x

    www.wineandolives.co.uk

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    1. Thank you for taking the time to read it, I just really felt like putting together a few of the pieces written or spoken about it that really touched me.

      Thank you. Chiara! Soon hopefully! :)

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  5. We should solve the root causes of these attacks to achieve world peace

    Kisses from the Philippines!
    - Seyra
    www.pavementsarerunways.com

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  6. Raashi... I hope your exams went well & you get the results you want. I need to say that you are an amazing person! You take the time to comment on others blogs and it's not one or two words but it's more, which shows how much you care. I'm not sure if anyone has ever told you but we appreciate you, and your comments a lot!!
    I love this post and you have wrote it beautifully. We should pray for humanity because I think this generation is lacking in showing compassion towards one another. Some people are easy to judge a whole religion based on an action of a few individuals which is upsetting and scary. We all need to unite as humans- it's more than religion, and race.
    Can't wait to read some more of you stuff babe!
    lots of love,
    Ramsha | Rose
    xxx

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    1. Ramsha, thank you so very much for this amazing comment. You are so, so incredibly sweet. I absolutely love reading what other people have created and really taking the time to understand someone else's thoughts, gives such understand and perspective, I think. You are so, so lovely to me though, I really appreciate you taking the time out to mention that to me - means more than you know, Ramsha <3.

      You are so right, things like this are really just displays of lack of compassion :/ I am a big believer in awareness and teaching creating knowledge and proper understanding, in a world as large and diverse as ours - unity is key.

      Thank you SO much, Ramsha. You are amazing.

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  7. Our world does need love or we will be all dead soon, every year we are destroying our would slowly and by killing each other ;((( sad

    http://www.queenhorsfall.com/

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    1. It is definitely insane what is happening, I am so proud that there are still incredibly positive and uplifting things that are happening as well though. We need it for sure.

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  8. our world needs more love. thanks raashi for a powerful post.

    - Cin

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  9. Very well said post! I have to say, personally, I think a lot of the problem with people not sharing support for other places is that they didn't know about it! How much news coverage did the Paris attacks get? How much did all the other terror that happened last weekend get? Hardly any! I only heard about it myself once all the upset posts started coming about. Maybe this is just where I am getting my news, but the first time I heard about attacks elsewhere were the posts about how we ignored all other countries. It is crazy how much the media controls.
    www.amemoryofus.com

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    1. The media is such a powerful force, I mean I study journalism and mass communication and it really has so much control as to what our humanity focuses upon. That's why a couple of the words and pictures I included above - I felt like it was so important to draw attention to. It is bound to happen that when something this big happens in a place that is not used to, and on such a large scale, that it gets a lot of focus. But at the end of the day, a human life is a human life - no matter where in the world it is being lived out. Thank you for reading, Darcy <3

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  10. Thank you for such a thought provoking and wonderful post! The video in particular was so encapsulating, so wonderful and thank you for the love sharing post <3

    goodmorningbelle.blogspot.co.uk

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    1. Thank you so much for reading, Vicky! I was so impressed by the video and how he took it upon himself to really frame the situation from a very educated point of view.

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  11. This is very true. But people are scared. Even in my country,which is one of the safest ones in the world, people are scared to be in the streets. And fear leads to hate. As a person who has muslim friends, I know that is unfair and that they are scared too. Although,I am glad to live where I live because people are tolerant and know that these events are not isolated nor coincidental. Things like these happened in the past and have yet to be accounted for. For whatever reason this is happening; just a crazy group of people targeting the weak or is it all a higher, crueler and more political/money hungry reason behind all of this, we all must know that love is the only way out of the fear. Love, friendship and understanding. If we all protect one another,no one could hurt us. We should be united and stand strong against the oppression- no matter what religion,race,sex or nationality we are. Together, through education and love, to a better future.

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    1. "Love is the only way out of fear" - these words you wrote Vicky, are exactly what it all comes down to. Things like this are essentially just a lack of human compassion, to be honest. Thank you so much for such a beautiful, thought-out comment. I fully support your views, it's so important for us to focus on the future now and foster understanding and unity.

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  12. I loved all the posts you included, people have phrased things so eloquently. There is definitely a bias in Western media towards other first world countries, I think because of the desensitization of tragedies in deaths in other countries, particularly the Middle East. There's so much bad news everyday though, and it's understandable that people are focusing on Paris. I wish it wasn't so though.

    Congrats on finishing exams! Those sound like such long hours, I wouldn't have been able to focus for so long! Now you can enjoy the holidays (:

    Angelina Is | Bloglovin'

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    1. Thank you Angelina, I love compiling peoples' perspectives and takes on issues, I feel like it allows us to get a very equally represented snapshot of situations. The desensitisation component is so true, as well as the 'closeness' factor - whether it be in terms of geographical location or relations with countries. At the end of the day every country makes up our world though, our humanity - it's important for us to be aware and ensure all countries in need of help, or compassion, or finding an approach to resolving conflict, are being looked at and given attention.

      Thank you so much, Angelina! I am so ready for holidays! Haha.

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  13. This is a very inspiring post. Thank you for sharing your love with the world

    www.monacristo.com

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    1. Thank you, Mona! That is so lovely of you, thank you for reading <3

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  14. I couldn't have said this any better myself, Raashi! I agree with you 100% - whilst I think it's admirable and beautiful when people unify together and show so much support in dark times like these, our Western society tends to be very 'selective', doesn't it? Personally, I've tried to avoid getting involved in anything Paris-related on social media etc. Whilst I am very saddened by what happened, and honestly cannot even begin to imagine what those families must have been going through; we live in times of such strict political correctness that I was afraid to even post anything on Twitter or my blog, because I didn't want people to get offended and judge me (anything non-Paris related, that is).

    On another note, I wanna say CONGRATS ON FINISHING YOUR EXAMS! Hope they went well, you deserve a rest for sure by the sounds of it, haha! :) <3 <3

    Kay
    http://shoesandglitter.blogspot.co.uk/

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    1. Thank you for such a lovely comment, Kay! Like you said, I am so proud of our world for banding together and showing compassion towards an event which completely lacked it. I love that people discussed it, even posted about it (I mean I am doing the same right now, aren't I? :P) - I think it's good when people feel passionate about issues, it opens up a conversation. All that being said, I completely get where you're coming from in avoiding getting involved on anything in social media. Although our generation tends to be so social media focused I like to think that the majority realises that the issue at hand is so much greater than just the use of a hashtag or an Instagram post; in saying that, I admire the people who created the hashtags, the images, the poems, the thought out posts because it gives us all something to think about. I think it is important to be equal parts politically correct and respectful, as well as interrogative and stimulating.

      Thank you so much, Kay!!! I am holding out for a good rest :)

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  15. This was a very interesting read -- thank you for this. I watched the video as well and gained some excellent insight. I always like seeing different points of interest.
    If you haven't yet, I would read this article on the Dalai Lama's take on the Paris attacks:
    http://www.alternet.org/world/dalai-lama-stop-praying-paris-humans-created-problem-and-humans-must-solve-it

    Love your little blog, by the way! It's very insightful. I always love bloggers who write well thought out posts :)

    -Alex
    A Northern Light

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    1. Alexandra! Sorry this has taken me absolutely forever to respond to your comment, I was away for a while and haven't been in the blogging world a whole lot! Thank you SO much for your comment! I am so glad that you enjoyed watching the video, I am reading the Dalai Lama article right now - again, thank you so much for sharing it with me!

      And again, thank you so much Alexandra, that means a whole lot to me! <3

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  16. Hope the world can unite in love instead of destroying each other with hate Girl About Town blog

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    1. 100% the truth, Nicole. Thank you for reading.

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  17. I will have Paris in my prayers, thankyou for sharing:)
    http://anythingandeverything.weebly.com/blog/ootd

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  18. such an inspirational post, love it

    Kisses,
    BLOG | Taislany

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  19. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. I meant to edit my comment but I ended up deleting it :(

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    2. Aww no worries Rose, if you don't mind, I still have your original comment from my email notifications and I felt like it was such a thought-provoking comment so I would love to share it again!

      ---

      I understand what you mean and I agree with you. Beirut should have gotten as much media coverage, Syria, Baghdad they all should've gotten more attention and more prayers. War is happening in a lot of places, and many innocent people are losing their lives and it's aweful.
      The thing with Paris was that Europe realized that war can happen anywhere.
      That's why Paris was so prominent in the news.
      I was at home alone here in Germany and I have to admit I was scared at that moment. Because where's the difference between France and Germany? It could've happened in Berlin, Rome, London...
      What happened in Paris what shook us so much is that the war that we think to be "somewhere else, far away" in "war countries" is now having effects here.
      And I do understand why it had so much media coverage in Europe, because Paris is a 3 hour drive away from me, so it makes sense geographically, that it gets more coverage but apparently it's been like that all over the world, which doesn't make that much sense
      What happened in Paris was an attack on our regular life. Suddenly it wasn't far away anymore, it was a restaurant, a concert, a mall, in a country we thought to be "safe", where all those people fleeing those maniacs were seeking shelter.
      And I was scared, but I wasn't scared for myself. Like I said, there's no difference between Paris, London, Berlin or any other place, you never know. I was scared for the refugees. Because things like that will get the racists and anti-refugee people momentum. And that is seriously scary.
      I live in Germany and my first thought was with the victims of course my second thought was with the refugees, hoping that people would understand that what happened in Paris is what those people are fleeing from.
      I wasn't scared of an attack here, because then you would have to be scared 24/7. You never know where it can happen.
      But I have to tell you things have changed here. Police are everywhere, they carry bigger guns and whenever a lonely bag is found the entire train station will go into lockdown for hours.

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  20. I read this before & am reading it again after yet more attacks worldwide and it still resonates so deeply with me. I too shared Karuna Parikh's poem at the time of the Paris attacks.
    & again, it saddens me what is happening in the world but it's at these times in particular that we have to try our utmost hardest not to allow fear to inflitrate and cloud our judgement, not to let it come between even more of us & cause us even more unnecessary conflict.
    In solidarity with the world & with much love,
    Ana xx

    www.namastefromananya.com

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    1. Thank you so much for coming back to this, I am so glad that some of my content can be revisited for perspective. It is so, so sad what has happened recently, but once again, the support, the conversation, the discussion that has taken place after it proves the solidarity and love of the human race. Thank you for this comment, Ana, such a good reminder of the mindset we need to stay in.

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