She randomly happened upon NPR on the car radio. This station came as a revelation for someone who never watched the news, read the paper, or had any inkling of the big political stories going on in the world. It seemed expansive. She called one of her friends about this exciting new addition to her driving routine. Other than reading up on propositions during off-season elections and always voting -no matter the time of year, it was avoidance of news that seemed most healthy. What could she do about starvation in Africa or wars over religions and oil and land so far from her American life? If one were to ask, ‘Did you hear about that terrible shooting?’ she could always say no. At first, it came across as perplexing how one could be so out of touch, but maybe she had the upper hand. How does knowing any of this sad or tragic news benefit her life? Some may have found her naïve and ignorant, but she was happier than them.
~~~
The café sits on the top floor of the posh department store. It’s a ladies-who-lunch environment after hours of retail therapy. Over chicken salads, champagne, and strawberry popovers, the group of women discuss the upcoming festive season, hosting woes and responsibilities, and their fundraising and charity drive initiatives. Each person’s contribution to the conversation is a self-aggrandized list of what they are doing in the Dallas society scene. They barely mention their children at this lunch. They never mention any global news. Their husbands rarely converse with them about news at home. Their world is bubble-wrapped. The outside observer tastes a little resentment in the back of their throat.
Then there are those in the thick of it. A global event may directly affect your family in Ukraine or Israel. For those so closely tied to any event, it feels as if you’ve been neglected when there isn’t an outpouring from everyone in your personal orbit; like you’ve been abandoned by those closest to you. People can only pour out so much and expend so much mental and emotional energy for all the problems in the world. So much is happening simultaneously, it’s a firehose of despair. One can be forgiven for wanting to tune it all out. Then there are the journalists, and they never get to turn off the hose. They have to live and breathe every action, reaction, comment, and argument. It is the job they’ve chosen. We all choose our lane. We choose what we want to suscept ourselves to and how often. Some of us are wise enough to know that any discussion on a social media platform is futile. ‘Thoughts and prayers’ seem trite, but if it’s what you have to give, it’s what you give.
~~~
A friend of mine left for Morrocco yesterday, and she stopped by to drop off a Halloween treat before heading to the airport. She was initially weary because of the massive earthquake they experienced in September. Now, the Israel and Hamas fight. As they are basically an Arab country, it’s hard to not feel a twinge of anxiety. We both agreed that one cannot live their life in fear of the world; we must constantly go about living. She added that she would be the Happy American, and regardless of how much she stood out, this was what she could contribute to the world. Yes.
*Image by Marina Rheingantz, Lightning Water
**My health has not been well. I just started a different medication last week as my body wasn’t responding to the injection I had been administering. So again, the only reason I didn’t post last week was because I was physically incapable. As this post suggests, there is only so much energy one can expend.