Sometimes I wish I were a cat. I would not know about racism or gun violence or mental illness. I would not know about terrorism or climate change. I would never have heard of the Ku Klux Klan or the National Rifle Association or Donald Trump (although I would sacrifice a few of my nine lives to wrestle with that hairpiece).
Seeing the world from a different perspective
I arrived at my country place in New Hampshire this week, just in time for the Charleston AME shootings. Bad and sad things often seem to happen when I’m up here, or perhaps I’m just more affected because the pace is slower and I have time to dig a little deeper into the news than I generally do.
I read interviews with victims, I look at pictures of traumatized citizens, I follow links to studies about gun violence, I check to see what reality Fox News is creating (this is an attack on faith and likely has nothing to do with race). I even look at Twitter (random NRA woman says Obama is ecstatic about the latest shooting because it plays into his plot to use race issues to steal her guns).
I get drained and alarmed visiting this reality, and I feel isolated since I don’t have many social connections up here. So I turn to Facebook to see what my friends are saying about it all. A few comment on how sad it is; a few say they are praying. But most have moved on and are posting pictures of their dinners, their new tattoos, or their pets. The mass murder was several days ago, after all.
I decide to escape and go see a movie in town, a harmless sci-fi flick about artificial intelligence. Since I do not provide economic support for violence in the movies, I google just to be sure — although what kind of violence would a movie about computers contain? A variety, it turns out, including: “strong scenes of violence, with slicing, stabbing, and lots of blood.”
OK, scratch the movie.
I sit down to write a blog post because writing is how I process.
My cat yawns and decides to abandon her chipmunk monitoring post for the moment. She rubs against my leg, then randomly drops down and rolls over, writhing with joy in the moment.
Jun 22, 2015 @ 19:10:59
I remember when I was young and my mother used to sit up at night. When I asked her what she was doing she said she couldn’t sleep because there was so much violence in the world and it worried her that people were suffering. I couldn’t understand her and told her not to worry about it. Move forward forty years and I’m now doing the same thing! I saw photos of those victims (when they were alive) and each one had a life and someone savagely took that life away. The only thing we can do is be thankful there is more love in the world than hate. Sometimes it doesn’t seem like it, but the media must carry some of the blame. If they didn’t see violence as being so newsworthy we would have more stories of love and hope which would encourage people to do more good than bad. I don’t even know if this makes sense but I noticed it when my two boys were young. If they watched fighting on TV they would fight. If they watched something about cleaning up the planet, they’d go outside and pick up rubbish. Children are very vulnerable and the media and movies are constantly feeding them violence (even the movie you wanted to watch – why put violence in it? It wont make it a better movie).
Anyway, I love your cat and am sending you both big hugs xxxx
Jun 22, 2015 @ 19:43:28
I agree – there’s far more love and good in the world than there is darkness. Otherwise, just imagine what this place would be like! We don’t hear that from the media, though. It doesn’t sell.
My mom used to say the same thing. She was mostly worried about nuclear war. Sigh.
Jun 21, 2015 @ 03:14:24
The Charleston Church shooting is such a tragic event and another evidence of what this world has become: a world filled with intolerant, trigger-happy psychos who take pleasure in other people’s pain 😥 But as long as there are compassionate people like you in this world, we have some ray of hope.
Jun 21, 2015 @ 15:39:25
I think there are far more kind and compassionate people than there are hate-filled psychotics, they just aren’t the ones who get the attention. Hope is good – I’ll work on it!
Jun 20, 2015 @ 04:20:38
Jun 20, 2015 @ 15:54:35
Thanks for the link – interesting site!
Jun 19, 2015 @ 23:36:19
Perhaps we should not over-process worldly events, life is traumatic enough. Cats are great listeners, or so i seem to think. Pets in general provide comfort esp during times of uncertainty, u’r lucky he/she chose you.
Jun 20, 2015 @ 15:57:23
I think you are right. But I also think we have a responsibility to be “witnesses” to the craziness in the world and stand against it. The trick is to be able to live your life happily in the midst of the crazies. Cats help. 🙂
Jun 19, 2015 @ 14:59:10
oh, Mel, we are all processing. i feel broken myself. don’t have any answers. now i’ve even lost the hope that ‘this one’ will bring us to our senses. we don’t seem to have enough collective sense to get out of the headlights.
Jun 19, 2015 @ 15:08:59
It really is getting to be too much. They say our postmodern world is in a “crisis of meaning” – that’s for dang sure! I am glad that I have put my eggs into the spiritual and writing baskets – I feel that only symbol, metaphor, and a certain “knowing” rather than “understanding” is all there is to hope for. Is it also social media that makes it overwhelming? We don’t see something and then go process — we experience it over and over and go deeper and deeper and there’s still no meaning in our glowing screens. OK, I’m going over the edge. Time for a walk. Thank God for the woods.
Jun 19, 2015 @ 11:22:31
I find it nearly impossible to write about horrific events in the news. These murders have no point, except to cause pain. Maybe as writers we should be able to give shape or form or meaning, but as a human, I know this is just one more misery in the stream of miseries that we inflict upon each other.
Gun violence and the mental health system weaknesses have been set in our society as intractable problems, which just means we lack imagination and have ceded our rights to powerful lobbies.
But, that’s not really your point here. Sometimes I just have to walk away for a bit and let it settle. A cat, time in the garden, a moment of grace…
Jun 19, 2015 @ 11:39:08
Amen. Humans are wired to want meaning, and this kind of thing means nothing but hate. Does not compute. Where’s the redemption? Where’s the hope? Weird thing is, my heart always breaks for the mentally ill perpetrator. So broken.