So today I wake up and turn on the TV and see what I call "disaster porn" all over the news because tornadoes have ripped through the Dallas area...in December!! The news media just seems like a bunch of vultures preying on all the poor survivors who are clearly in shock as they stand in front of their demolished homes. But that's what viewers want, right? They want to be able to look at all the horrible situations other people are going through and be thankful they don't have to go through it? Or are people just addicted to shitty situations?
It's kinda sucky and kinda exploitative to focus on this sort of thing. But when I change the channel, it's a bunch of political commentators arguing about the state of the world and who's the better candidate and verbally trashing the other guy. So ultimately I decide to put a movie on: the documentary Advanced Style. Ah, much better!
It's horrible when people lose their belongings. Living in North Texas, I am well aware of the fact that any severe storm could whip through here and take out my house and possibly my life or the lives of those I love. I've been aware of this possibility since I was a little girl. But I think it's a mistake to dwell on these things. Maybe it's because I've never been as materialistic as my peers, but I just feel like stuff can be replaced. Stuff is just stuff. It's inanimate. It frays and crumbles. It only has the importance we place on it. If you lose your home, guess what? There are more homes! If you lose your iPad, guess what? There are more iPads! Even sentimental things don't really matter because ultimately, the only reason they're sentimental is because they are associated with memories we already hold in our minds and our hearts.
I'm not one to make New Year's Resolutions anymore because when I discover something about my life that needs to change, I'll make the resolution in March or June or whenever I need to. But I will say that in 2016, I'll be embracing an attitude about life that I've been moving toward this past year, and that is not to be so serious.
I do think there is a time for being serious. For instance, when you or a loved one is going through losing someone they love. But one can only hope that these times are few and far in between. Life has a way of providing disappointments in spades, but we have the ability to give them weight to slow us down or let them go and stop obsessively focusing on them.
I feel like we have a choice of what we want to focus on. And the things I'm drawn toward at age 32 are the happy, the fun, the artistic, the colorful, the soothing, the outrageous, the humorous, the sexy, the inspiring, etc.
Does it seem like this generation is preoccupied with Gloom and Doom? Take one look at the news and it becomes pretty apparent! Well, frankly, I don't like this trend. And unless our attention is somehow helping to change the situation for the better, I don't think gloom and doom deserve so much focus.
In closing, here's a gif of a tiny snake wearing a top hat and a fake mustache.
