Things That Should Not Need Defending

Some principles live quietly in the background until violence drags them into the centre of the room. #

Today felt quieter than yesterday but not lighter. Work happened. Coffee happened. People spoke about Paris and then about other things because nobody can sustain one emotional temperature for an entire day. I kept thinking about how much of a decent ordinary life depends on things we barely notice while they function. Being able to write. Being able to disagree. Being able to believe or not believe. Being able to draw something somebody dislikes. Being able to say that drawing is horrible. Being able to walk away from an argument. Being able to open a newspaper office in the morning without treating it like a battlefield. None of those things should feel luxurious. Today they do.

Remember me, Eclipse.