(Prompt: Life)
"Alina, how are you doing?..."
"Eh. I wish people would agree that life is more than just breathing. Maybe that would help. ...Probably not but some hope is better than nothing. I'd rather that than having to accept that some people are just cruel and heartless."
"There is still hope. Though there are also people who are cruel and heartless. The world is too complex for either or."
"I know. I just wish people who claim to protect life actually protected life. They don't protect life, they protect breathing. Actually it would probably be more accurate to say they protect the idea of breathing. Their actions can even take breathing away but they ignore that fact and hide it out of sight. Even if breathing is protected, life isn't guaranteed. Life needs joy, vitality, growth, happiness. A life of endless suffering is hardly any life at all. Forcing people into that so-called life is cruel and a mockery to the people you are claiming to value and protect. It is so frustrating. They act like virtuous saviors and life-givers but they are destroying life. Why can't they see that?! Am I crazy to see things this way? To not be able to comprehend their view at all? I just don't understand how they can see themselves as pure and good. It makes no sense to me."
"You're not crazy, sweetheart. I don't understand it either. Life is precious but only life as you described it. Breathing alone is not life. It is not what should be treasured and protected. At least not alone and foremost. It is the heart, mind, and soul of people that should be protected. Nurture those things and life will flourish. Failing to care for those things and breathing, being 'alive', can become a hell and death sentence. It breaks my heart that people don't understand that. In their crusade for life they are bringing death. Physical death, mental, emotional, and financial death, they are attacking all areas of life. Even when they aren't causing actual death they are still draining life. Just look at you... Alright, enough about them for now. How about we watch a movie or something? I'll get my tablet so you don't have to get out of bed."
"Thank you, Liam. It's reassuring to have at least one person who understands and cares about me."
(Prompt: Rainbow)
"Hey Liam. If someone asked you what a rainbow means, what would you say?"
"Hm... I would say it means hope. As an LGBT+ person I have always seen it as a sign of love and acceptance. It's a reminder that you can be yourself. It doesn't promise that everything will be easy but it does promise that you won't be alone and that there is always love and beauty to be found."
"I agree. I've always loved the rainbow flag for that reason."
"A rainbow can mean hope in other contexts too. Life-giving rain, healing through hardships, even the Biblical story about it. In basically every context I can think of, a rainbow brings hope and joy."
"Rainbow means hope. I like that and I agree completely."
(Prompt: Diversity)
"The world is like a mosaic but there are people who want plain concrete instead."
"What are you talking about, Liam?"
"I just saw some posts about diversity earlier. Diversity isn't something you need to make or hunt for, it is the natural state of things. Just look out in nature, nothing is simple or the same instead there is a vast variety of plants, animals, everything. That diversity is good and beautiful. The same is true with people. There is so much variety and diversity in people. When people live as themselves in community they form a vibrant and beautiful mosaic."
"Community is a mosaic of people. I like that imagery."
"Me too. Which makes people trying to replace the mosaic with plain concrete so frustrating. Having everyone around you fit into the same limited set of molds may make some things easier but it is so boring and lacking. You miss out on so much if you limit who you are surrounded with. Diversity shouldn't be avoided or treated like a fad. It should be allowed to be its natural self. It should be nurtured, celebrated, and enjoyed."
(Prompt: Strength)
"Liam, did you ever feel like you had to be 'the strong one'?"
"Oh yeah. I am the oldest child and a guy so I definitely felt like it was expected that I would be a pillar of strength. Of course 'strength' was never very clearly defined, at least not completely. Turns out that strength is more than just being in control. It is also feeling and dealing with your emotions and recovering gracefully from things going badly. It is facing the day when all you want to do is curl up in bed. It is being able to ask for help and admit when you are wrong. Strength means a lot of things."
"In some ways strength and being 'the strong one' are the same thing at all. To be 'the strong one' you sometimes have to repress your own emotions and problems in order to be there for other people. Being 'the strong one' for too long can make you weak."
"Exactly. You are strong but you never have to be 'the strong one' for me. I never want to put that burden on you."
"Same to you."
(Prompt: Courage)
"I'm sure I've told you this before, but I'm so proud of you, Allen. It takes courage to be yourself when people around you tell you not to. I'm glad you found the courage to be yourself because you are amazing and the world is better with you in it."
"You have courage too. We both have to deal with people wanting us to change and we both have to find the courage to not give in. That is easier to do since we have each other. I at least wouldn't have nearly as much courage without your support."
"Courage can be a group project as well as an individual endeavor. Good thing I have such a great teammate. I do almost feel bad for people who wish we didn't have the courage to stand up for ourselves. Almost, but not really."
(Prompt: Resilience)
"I feel like almost every POC, LGBT+ person, religious minority, and many women should be given some sort of reward and compensation for how much resilience they need to just survive from day to day. I'm getting so tired of the state of the world right now. I'm getting so tired of having to be resilient and as a white man I don't even have to bear anywhere near as much as people who don't have that benefit. It's so frustrating."
"It is frustrating. Part of being resilient is that you feel and see the wounds even though you are surviving them. It is frustrating and painful when people either don't see or refuse to acknowledge the wounds that are completely obvious to you. Resilience can be draining in so many ways. But it is also a blessing in a way too. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for resilience."
"True. Reliance is a blessing. At the end of the day we are stronger because of it and are able to survive things that would disrupt other people. Resilience and strength work together and they are virtues, even if in an ideal world they wouldn't need to be tested so much."
(Prompt: Hope)
"Hope is so important and incredible. Hope means that even in the darkness you can envision the light. It is a reassurance that things will work out, that you will be ok one way or another. Hope alone isn't enough to get you through life but it certainly helps."
"It does indeed. I'm glad you taught me how to find hope in any situation. It has certainly helped me get through some tough times. I used to think that hope was a big, constant thing that you either always had or didn't have at all. But hope is dynamic. It changes from time to time and circumstance to circumstance. It can be found in something as vast as religious beliefs or as small as a pen that writes. Hope can be found anywhere, by anyone."
"Unfortunately it can also be taken away. With enough effort you can be forced into hopelessness. The sad part is that finding hope is easier than gaining hopelessness and yet so many people go out of their way to make people hopeless. Hopelessness is a tragedy in so many ways. The ideal would is one where hopelessness can't exist because no one is forcing people into that state."
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