Ya know…I’ve heard of people having “writers block”. They sit and stare at a blank sheet of paper or a blinking cursor and the words just won’t come. I guess they just kinda zone out staring at that field of white in front of them and lose all train of thought.
The problem I’ve had lately is quite the opposite. There’s been entirely too much shit running through my mind to be able to process it, compartmentalize it and put it to words with any resemblance of rational thought.
I’m not exactly angry. I thought it was anger. There are some things going on right now that really seem to piss me off at times. And then there are a few things that I just can’t wrap my head around. “Disbelief” is the word that I guess would best define those feelings.
Anger and disbelief…I guess the two equate to frustration. I’m a little frustrated is what it all boils down to.
This has been going on for about a month now. I thought a few weeks out on the bike would clear my head and help me make sense of it all. Normally that’s a cure for all that ails me. This year it just made it worse. The hours of saddle time every day riding across some of the most beautiful scenery this planet has to offer should be a sure ticket to clearing your mind. This year it didn’t help. All the things causing my frustration just became more convoluted as the days and miles racked up.
Today though…well, today I was cutting grass…headphones on, melodically injecting the best Classic Rock the world has ever known into my head as I was trying to keep the lines in the yard straight and simultaneously blow all the leaves and grass to the creek. A couple hours into the chore it all became clear to me…the various things I can’t wrap my head around and the plethora of things pissing me off all have ONE root cause.
We’ll come back to that.
I’m not going to sit here and bore you with all the mania that keeps me up at night. I’ll give you a couple examples and you can probably guess a lot of the rest of it after that. This is going to sound like a rant here for the next couple paragraphs, but it’s not…there’s a point I’m getting to…Trust Me.
One thing that’s been getting under my skin for a little while now is seeing people ask for help and getting little to no response. I’m sorry, but when a single Mom posts on Facebook that she needs a little help from someone with a truck and I KNOW there are a dozen long-time friends of mine (and hers) in that general vicinity who see her posts and absolutely NOBODY speaks up, it pisses…..*sigh*….It frustrates me. I mean hell…even just a note to say, “I can’t be there this week, I’m out of town” would be something, ya know? Just something to let the person in need know that you understand their plight and would be happy to help if it were logistically possible….something to let that person know that they’re not being ignored…that they matter….that someone out there cares enough to at least acknowledge their need. There’s a lot of conversation that goes on about “bullying”, but you rarely ever hear anyone talk about neglect. That’s exactly what that is…neglect….someone in need has swallowed their pride and asked for help…and the response they get from their “friends” is nothing more than the sound of chirping crickets.
This next topic….*sigh*….I’m wasting my time. I know I’m wasting my time. I’ve said this all before and Y’all ain’t gonna listen. But if I don’t write this out I have to let it boil inside me….and I really can’t tell if anyone’s really reading this blog anyway, so I might as well get it off my chest. So, here we go…
I get it. I really do. It’s the 1st Amendment in the Bill of Rights. It’s one of the fundamental values of living in our Republic. But, please…I beg of you…if you don’t have anything positive to say, shut the hell up. All this finger pointing and eye-poking about politics is just absolutely stupid. All the picket signs, memes and rants…all you’re doing is pissin’…..*sigh*….frustrating the hell out of each other. You’re not going to change anyone’s mind with a political meme. A conservative rant is not going to make a liberal suddenly change their position. All you’re doing is adding to the hate and discontent among the masses, and if you haven’t noticed yet…there’s already plenty of that shit to go around. And I’m gonna tell you something you already know…all that hate and discontent is doing nothing more than clouding the public vision of the real issues…and that cloud…well, it’s smoke….it’s coming from the fires both sides of the aisle are fanning to try to keep you from seeing that NOTHING IS GETTING ACCOMPLISHED by your elected officials. Yeah…that’s exactly what I’m saying…you can go re-read it if you want, but you didn’t misunderstand me…your rants and memes….they’re not solving a damn thing….they’re making everything worse. The problems you’re bitching about….you’ve become part of them. You want to change things, you’ve got two options: vote or run for office yourself….it’s that simple. After those two choices, there’s realistically nothing else you can do to spin the outcome of the catastrophic failure Congress has become. So….be nice to each other…be respectful of each other. You really want to see D.C. get confused? Stop feeding their fires for a while…once they can’t analyze social media and figure out what their opposition is raving about they’re going to have to start coming up with their own topics to discuss…and that’s where you’ll find out where these people really stand on the issues….if they even know what the issues are when the analysts have no information to feed them.
Humanity, my friends. That one root cause I was talking about is a loss of humanity.
We live in the greatest society in the history of the planet. As jacked-up as we seem at times we’re still the only game in town worth playing. Ever heard of an American seeking asylum from another nation? No other nation on this planet has our wealth. It may be a little hard to understand, but to the rest of the world our average middle class family is abundantly wealthy….yep, that includes Great Britain and Australia. No other nation on the planet has our degree of freedom. Yeah, sure….a lot of countries have freedom to some extent, but not the kind of freedoms we’re guaranteed through our Bill of Rights.
But with all our wealth and all our freedom, we’re not taking care of each other as well as we should. We seem to take lot of joy anymore in arguing politics, race and religion…sometimes to the point of violence. We’re not going out of our way to make sure those around us are getting the things they need. We’ve become self-absorbed in our own little bubbles. Don’t get pissy….I’m not pointing fingers at anyone specific and I’m just as guilty as everyone else at times. But, as a society…if you’re honest with yourself…it’s the truth, isn’t it?
We’ve got a homelessness problem of epic proportions out on the West Coast and most of us just shake our heads and make jokes about the politicians out there. But those are Americans living in squalor…in the wealthiest nation on the planet.
We’ve got drug problems, an education system that’s an absolute wreck and mass shootings playing live in our living rooms seemingly weekly and we keep looking to Congress to solve all our issues. Hey…I’ve got news for ya….the only way a politician is the answer is if it’s a really stupid question. They’re not interested in helping us. They’re not interested in saving the environment. They’re not interested in your health care, your child’s education, your minimum wage or your social security. Their single point of focus is generating money. Money gets them reelected. Money keeps or puts their party in power.
Friends, I’m telling ya….we’re going to have to fix these problems our-damn-selves. I know it seems like a huge issue to take on, but it starts with little things. Take a couple hours out of your life to help an old friend in need move a couch. Take a minute to consider the ramifications of your words before you start to spout off something that’s going to piss off….*sigh*….frustrate a friend that sees things a little differently than you. Set an example for the kids to ensure they keep their humanity in check. I’m telling you, there’s a ripple effect. One single random act of kindness radiates out into the world…you may never see all the dominoes fall, but you know in your heart that they will.
Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over but expecting a different result. We’ve been trusting politicians and pushing this anger & discontent agenda for a while now and it’s not solving a damn thing….maybe it’s time we take the reigns back and start teaching our kids right from wrong and treating each other with love and respect. Really….what’s the worst that could happen?