The other day I was writing about all the bugs and other creepy crawlers that live in this house, and I wrote the phrase “See no evil, hear no evil, feel no evil,” describing my nightly ritual. When the lights go out I use my headlamp to light up only what is directly in front of me, because I don’t want to see what is most certainly lurking in the darkness and shadows all around. Tunnel vision is key. I quickly crawl inside my mosquito net, tucking it snugly beneath my mattress so that nothing can get inside. I stick in my headphones or earplugs so I can’t hear the scuttling, squeaking, and buzzing around me. If there are things crawling around outside, I don’t want to know about them. As long as I am tucked away and safe, I can shut out the rest and pretend I live in a magical land where bugs and vermin don’t exist. Ignorance is bliss.
See no evil, hear no evil, feel no evil.
I’m starting to realize how much this phrase describes how I’ve lived my life.
Yesterday we watched the movie Trade. It’s a brilliant movie, but don’t watch it if you don’t want to be disturbed from your safe mosquito net. It’s also quite graphic. It’s a “fictional” film about two girls who are kidnapped into sex trafficking… but this “fictional” tale tells the true story of over a million men, women, and children a year.
How did we let it get this bad?
I realize that some of you cynics out there will think, “Oh here she goes, another 20-something-year-old social justice bandwagon.” Or you might think it’s an exercise in futility, that there’s no way we can make any discernible difference. Or you might think this is just a phase. And all of you may be right– but so what? I don’t think I can go forward only shining light on what’s directly in front of me and ignoring all the rest. I don’t think I can just sit, protected in my little bubble, and ignore the evils in the shadows of the world.
In a few months we’ll be in Thailand and Cambodia, two of the places where the sex trade is the strongest and most exposed. I don’t want to leave that place unchanged. It’s overwhelming to think about just how massive this problem is, but we’ve got to start somewhere. I don’t want to live by see no evil, hear no evil, feel no evil. I don’t want to live in ignorance anymore.
