Bridge Over Troubled Water
The title of this post is apropos. It also goes to show how most days, my head usually up there in the pop culture clouds.
They say no news is good news. Although a cliche, I find this is often true. The nightly news is, in large part, written around sensationalism and cliffhangers. Things like deaths, murders, kidnappings and natural disasters. Sweet headlines are made of these. A nice old man turning 100, a small town's outpouring of affection towards a sick child, monetary means raised for a charity...these are the tidbits they save for the closing credits or, even worse, the awkward "filler" moments, sandwiched somewhere between a five alarm fire and an advertisement for the latest Kohl's sale.
So, although this isn't an excuse, this is the number one reason why I don't tune into the nightly news on a routine basis. The names and faces may change, but the downward spiral projection of the human race does not.
In fact, my feelings on the matter are often mirrored on this blog. In case you haven't noticed, I tend to stay away from a lot of hard hitting issues, careful not to hit anyone over the head with heavy handed news and views. In my opinion, there's a time and place for all of that. There are even very good blogs devoted to such matters. Instead, I try to walk the fine line somewhere down the middle. So while this blog ain't exactly Disneyland, it's not CNN either.
But then I hear about this and I feel two emotions.
1. Embarrassed- This event transpired probably only 24 hours before I found out about it. In fact, I was walking through the living room, headed for the kitchen when my mom brought the event to my attention. Still, given the circumstances, that's a long period of time. In fact, had I not been in the room at that moment, it might have been even longer till I found out. I could use the excuse that I was out of the loop because it was a holiday weekend, but it would be just that, an excuse.
2. Helpless- There are plenty of places to donate to and then all that's left to do is cross your fingers and hope your donation gets in in the right hands. Other than that, it's business as usual. Back home people blog about Christmas presents and Neilsen ratings, present company included. It's a shallow existence, but one many of us succumb to, although we're not proud of it.
Long story short, I'm not a dweller. I will return to my old blogging self in no time, if not to maintain some degree of normalcy, but to get my mind (and maybe others) off the sad reality. Because, in my mind, dwelling would be wrong, but to forget, or to somehow not acknowledge, would be even worse.
And so in the spirt of the season, and every day here after, let's pray for each other and, at the risk of sounding corny, count our "blog-gone" blessings.
They say no news is good news. Although a cliche, I find this is often true. The nightly news is, in large part, written around sensationalism and cliffhangers. Things like deaths, murders, kidnappings and natural disasters. Sweet headlines are made of these. A nice old man turning 100, a small town's outpouring of affection towards a sick child, monetary means raised for a charity...these are the tidbits they save for the closing credits or, even worse, the awkward "filler" moments, sandwiched somewhere between a five alarm fire and an advertisement for the latest Kohl's sale.
So, although this isn't an excuse, this is the number one reason why I don't tune into the nightly news on a routine basis. The names and faces may change, but the downward spiral projection of the human race does not.
In fact, my feelings on the matter are often mirrored on this blog. In case you haven't noticed, I tend to stay away from a lot of hard hitting issues, careful not to hit anyone over the head with heavy handed news and views. In my opinion, there's a time and place for all of that. There are even very good blogs devoted to such matters. Instead, I try to walk the fine line somewhere down the middle. So while this blog ain't exactly Disneyland, it's not CNN either.
But then I hear about this and I feel two emotions.
1. Embarrassed- This event transpired probably only 24 hours before I found out about it. In fact, I was walking through the living room, headed for the kitchen when my mom brought the event to my attention. Still, given the circumstances, that's a long period of time. In fact, had I not been in the room at that moment, it might have been even longer till I found out. I could use the excuse that I was out of the loop because it was a holiday weekend, but it would be just that, an excuse.
2. Helpless- There are plenty of places to donate to and then all that's left to do is cross your fingers and hope your donation gets in in the right hands. Other than that, it's business as usual. Back home people blog about Christmas presents and Neilsen ratings, present company included. It's a shallow existence, but one many of us succumb to, although we're not proud of it.
Long story short, I'm not a dweller. I will return to my old blogging self in no time, if not to maintain some degree of normalcy, but to get my mind (and maybe others) off the sad reality. Because, in my mind, dwelling would be wrong, but to forget, or to somehow not acknowledge, would be even worse.
And so in the spirt of the season, and every day here after, let's pray for each other and, at the risk of sounding corny, count our "blog-gone" blessings.
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