It is so easy to end a life. If you have a gun, simply curl your finger. If you are driving a vehicle, simply veer to the left or right. Sometimes, all it takes is a fall on a slippery sidewalk.
I catch myself in little thought loops, as I call them. Lately, it is been about how fragile life is. I mean, life in general is tough – it will find ways to survive. But individually, we are sooooo soft. This shell of ours is made out of soft skin, muscle, ligaments and porous bones. Our brain, the harbinger of our thoughts, experiences, emotions, our very being, floats in a layer of goo in a skull that is at best ¼ of an inch thick.
Having kids really changes things. I find myself worrying about everything now. Reading the news only exacerbates these
thoughts. It’s really a contradiction in my head. Here’s why:
- First, we are not meant to consume news the way we do now. We are affected by happenings all over the world and the negative news always gets top billing. This was not possible before so now we are continuously bombarded with the worst possible news all the time.
- And this is a contradiction because where I live in the United States, these are among the safest times EVER! We don’t generally have to worry about where our next meal will come from or fear invading armies. Even crime is approaching historic lows. (If only religion didn’t get in the way!).
So while we seem to exist in this weird state of continuous war, things don’t seem to be too adversely affected at home. I look around me and people are shopping, attending sporting events, going to concerts, planning parties and overall, acting normal.
And I realize that this is not the norm everywhere. In other parts of the world, life is cheap. Mass executions and barbaric displays of cruelty can be seen on the internet, to the amusement of some, the horror of others, and to the strange approval from others.
But is the solution to not stay informed? I don’t think I can do that. I am an admitted info-junkie; my RSS reader has over 100 feeds and that does not include all the podcasts I subscribe to.
Maybe ignorance is bliss, but I am not OK with that. Logic and reason have served me well and I think staying informed is a big part of that.
So everything is not OK, certainly not in Ukraine, not in Iraq, not in Syria, not in Afghanistan, not in Israel, not in Nigeria, not in Mexico, and sometimes not in my head. But that is something I am accepting and am OK with.
