I’ve noticed that I’ve posted several downers in a row. Call it the post-9/11 rant syndrome. If only bad stuff would just stop happening...
Sure I notice the fun and funny stuff around me. I snicker (and barf) at the Britney Spears/Madonna spectacle and chuckle with Schadenfreude at poor jilted Jennifer Lopez’ woes (and feel a little guilty for laughing as well). Hey, girlfriend, I’ve been there!
But with all of the mayhem going on around us, it’s difficult to talk—to blog--about the good things in life. Blogging, by its very nature, is a means of constructively getting out the things that have been lingering inside, at least for me. Most of what’s held inside me consists of anger and frustration at things I see in the news and in every day life. Such things are not allowed out for display in polite company. You get told that you “like to argue” or you’re “too angry” or “no wonder you’re divorced.” If I’m not angry already, I am after that type of “constructive” criticism.
So, in real life, when someone says something totally stupid like “it’s good that the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals postponed the recall vote,” I don’t ask them why they think that, nor do I point out that the punch card ballots have been used here in CA since long before I began voting.
I simply flash a beatific smile, say, “right,” and change the subject. I’ve got that bogus smile thing down pat.
Don’t worry. I’m not going to give a list of all the things that make life good. You know what they are (hopefully). I do as well and they go well appreciated around here.
I submit that part of being happy is to be able to release those things that frustrate you; to vent the dreaded anger; to articulate the whys and wherefores of your wrath.
Then you can go out into the real world and flash a genuine smile—at least until the next person or event gets you wound up.
Then you come back home, blog, and start the cycle over again.
