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Connection!
By Saad Manasterli, Staff Writer

 

Fairfax, Virginia - Con·nec·tion (n):

1. the linking or joining of two or more parts, things, or people
2. something that links two or more things
3. a linking association between people, things, or events
4. a communication link, especially between telephones
5. the relationship of something with its context
6. a friend, relative, or associate who either has or has access to influence or power.

On a dark, wet afternoon in the city of Falls Church, Virginia, I attempted to find to my solitude in the only place I sometimes can. It is steamy and plain, hot until warm and warm until cold… coffee. Outside it is raining, as if it were droplets of depression that blatantly fall upon my face and soak my senses, and I then realize that I am alone. I have neighboring patrons in this place I call my third home; yet, we are all alone. We have to choose to actually commence in a conversation, but we refuse in fear of it being too awkward, or actually having a connection with another being. Isn’t that what we have been lacking after all? Why don’t we take chances of human kind, on ourselves? Why does fear reside in each and every one of us, and what are we afraid of? Death... We will all die one day; it is the way of life; it is the final destination of life, where we connect to the other life. Loneliness… Technically, we are all alone.

Connect, connecting, connection made! No longer stands for a human contact, but a contact of another kind – the Internet.  As our lives evolve, the Internet evolves with us, as if our existence is futile on its own. We are the pets of the Internet, when nothing is real anymore, we reveal our true colors to a screen full of fake or enhanced colors; we are who we are and we know it, but we fear knowledge of knowing.

People have sprung wars over a connection; case in point would be the wars of the Middle East. The ongoing turmoil in Iraq has provided enough proof to last through the ages. War starts in stages; first you have the “want” to make a connection, or better phrased as an attempt to connect. The war in Iraq was, sorry, is, a mere diversion of what the problem really is. Are the Iraqi people free? I do not think so; they are taken over by troops from around the globe, telling them what they can and/or cannot do. I might be too blunt here but how about we call it an occupation. Ok, we helped with a few problems here and there, but there are more places in the world where help is needed a lot more but we failed to make a connection. To get from point A to point B to point C and so on, we tend to make connections to get to our destinations. Yet, why do we seem to jump the gun and fail to make these connections that are readily available?

Going through a few trials, bad words are exchanged, and thus begin the verbal wars of hearsay, which are most likely based on false facts. Arms are then unsheathed, and the wall begins to rise to the occasion of self-reliant protection. Fear is then instilled in the minds of the people as to whose weapon is bigger than the other, and it becomes a battle of manhood, instead of it being about the people.  Pride, I say, is the worst of all sins.

A discovery is made from an anonymous tip of unfounded information, and a campaign of rumors spreads like the plague during the days of Mosses. Instigation becomes the only litigation that a nation has to propose an infiltration of certain denominations of land, and to de-unify what was once united, by means of force, but united after all. So the connection is made, or should I say contact is made; explosive kisses of disaster shed a new light on fireworks during kissing.  And all that was missing was being who we are, and dealing with the issue like affectionate human beings as we were all created. If God created us in his own image, then he must be a blood-thirsty barbarian, if matters such as war always prevail over love and understanding. Not to say that there is no love, but love is hidden because of the fear of a connection and hurt. Death, hunger and confusion are words that become second nature to a war-ridden nation. You wake up and wonder, “Is today the day that I die? Is it worth getting up?” But looking forward to being alive is the reason we were created.

Looking forward to making a connection is what we all do from birth to death, but the insecurities favor the silence and the violence that replaces the instinctual love that is imbedded in each and every one of us. Is violence the only way to resolve problems? Is denial a resolution? It maybe a temporary solution, but the wounds will reappear and hurt more than they did before. Denial is like taking aspirin for cancer; you think that you are fine but the problems still lurk beneath. But to have a connection, to be able to convey a message to another and not be worried about who is going to screw whom over first, would be the ultimate sense of freedom. 

The dream is to be free, and have ways to express oneself, not to wage war and give birth to a war child, leading to an unloved and secluded life; who wants that?