What I Would Teach Everyone in the World

Alright. This is a blog post where I try to solve some of the most basic world problems through education. I'm sure there are more important issues than these (and probably more that I would think of if I planned this better; there may be a part two).

Anyway, these are some of the basic things I think everyone needs to learn:

1. Okay. This "everyone" applies mostly to Anglophones. Get ready to hate me, because the first one is... grammar! Alright, not everything to do with grammar. That would be nice, but I know that it's not probable. No, there are just two big grammar pet peeves that I would like to introduce to the world:
a) Well vs. good: NEVER say anything along the lines of "You/I/she/any pronoun/name did good". "Good" is an adjective. "Well" is an adverb. Since "doing" is a verb, you would describe it with an adverb. Correction: "You did well."
b) Quotation vs. quote: Even textbooks are making this mistake, and it breaks my heart. "Quotation" is a noun. "To quote" is a verb. Therefore, I can say something like "to quote (name), 'pears are better than apples'". I cannot say "this quote from (name) shows that he/she believes that pears are better than apples". NO! It is quotation.

2. Regardless of how you're feeling, it's never okay to hurt someone else. Come on, guys, life is tough enough without us bringing other people down. You may feel as though your life is terrible, but, if that's the case, make someone else's life a little bit better. Honestly, this goes back to the childhood rule of treat others how you want to be treated.

3. If you can, keep judgment and gossip to a minimum. We never know what's going on in someone else's life, and it's absolutely not okay to put someone down to make yourself feel superior.

4. You can't judge an entire group of people by a few individuals' actions. This applies, at the moment, particularly to how people are perceiving Muslims right now. I was absolutely shocked and disgusted when I was reading an article about a Muslim terrorist issue in the United States and all of the comments said things like "Muslims shouldn't be allowed to stay here" and "Islam is destructive". Seriously?? No religion is destructive in itself. It's when people warp it and use it for a bad purpose that it becomes a problem, but that's not every Muslim. Not every woman who wears a hijab is oppressed. It can be her on choice. And, believe it or not, not every Muslim is a terrorist, just like most Christians don't agree with people like the Westborough Baptist Church. Can we please all just learn to accept each other?

5. It's okay to struggle. Personally, I have huge issues with depression, and I'm still learning that it's okay. Everyone is struggling with something. If we were riding high all of the time, life might be pretty boring.

6. You should never let go of your creativity. It's so sad to think that becoming an adult is synonymous with becoming fully rational and totally uncreative. I never want to lose my imagination. Imagination is what makes life so beautiful.

7. There is value to every single person. Self-explanatory.

8. It's okay to have different beliefs. As long as your beliefs aren't harming anyone else, it shouldn't matter. Let people live the life they want to live by their own rules (hopefully one of those rules will include kindness).

I'll leave it there for now. I'm sure there are more, but those are the big ones today!

-Laura