Leopard Gecko (from Kenshi Yonezu's blog)
I'm writing lyrics at the moment. I'm not making much progress, so I decided to write a blog entry.
What is normal and obvious to one will not be the same for another. That's easy to realize when you think about it, but easy to forget as well. You can seriously question "How can you not know that?!", and even let anger boil up over it.
Back when I was a student, I existed in close proximity to what is known as "bullying," so I thought deeply about the actual structure of it. Bullying comes hand in hand with a closed-off space like school. And people who get bullied are people who get others thinking "How can you not know that?"
They can be slow on the uptake, walk or talk funny, or lack the literacy for socialization; there are all kinds of reasons. But what ultimately causes them to be targeted is that they don't have the same notion of what's normal as the majority. Others interpret this as "They can't do simple things that anyone else can do. If they can't even muster that trivial effort, they must be a lazy idiot." This interpretation becomes a shared one, common sense even, and ultimately serves as a pardon to say "It's okay to beat them up." Using this pardon as a shield to enact "punishment"... That's essentially the fundamental structure of bullying, in my mind. But every time I think about this, I'm left with a pessimistic feeling: "So this won't go away, will it?"
As a student, I often heard "If you act normally, you won't get bullied." But that's essentially saying "If you can't adapt, screw you," so it's not a proper solution. The people liable to be bullied can't understand what "normal" is. It's a problem of disposition, not something any amount of effort they put in can resolve.
I work in music, and a big part of making music is having the proper disposition. I don't want to say I have that disposition myself, but I often wonder looking at others, why don't they know this? Why can't they do this? I've likely hurt others numerous times without even realizing it. People who can't adapt to their environment are quickly brushed off and forgotten. Perhaps it's because I'm in such a harsh situation that I often think about "people who were brushed off." What are they to do? Where is the outlet for people who have been brushed off?
Writing stream-of-consciousness has just led me to rambling. Back to lyrics.