About that

Like Jordan, my mind has been on the very recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan.  The images are surreal.  You can't turn on the television, open a newspaper, or get online without seeing the "widespread devastation" that is continuously taking place there.

I'll speak for myself (as everyone should only ever speak for themselves) when I say that it's also a very large example of what our world has become.  I initially said "how sad our world has become" but I quickly changed my mind and I'll explain why now.  Explaining a conundrum is obviously difficult so let me break it down:

1. I see the utter catastrophe that can take place in the world with no one to stop it.  It has happened before and it will happen again yet we are horrified and shocked every single time.  Yes, it is horrifying and shocking but it goes to show that humans don't run this world as much as we think we do.  You don't have to watch a lot of news to see that no amount of human preparation can make you ready for something like this. When things like this happen, I always find myself feeling somewhat lucky but mostly guilty.  Guilty that I'm so ungrateful.  Guilty that I continue to live my life as if nothing's happened.  Guilty that I discredit the media that feeds off of people's misery yet promote it at the same time.

Now here's where things get tricky...

2. Okay, so, I feel guilty.  What am I gonna do about it?  Text Red Cross and donate $10?  Check.  Pray about it?  No, but I'll say Check for the sake of my overall purpose.  Take a search and rescue team to a remote city in Japan? Highly doubtful.

The point I'm trying to get across is that it's easy to go on living our lives because the other options are pretty miniscule (let's be honest).  For anyone who remotely has an aware conscious when these events happen, the next step is to feel guilty.  But after that, what do you do?  There's the legitimate answer of "get the fuck up and go help them" which is a hard task, like I said, and then there's the imaginary answer of "live each day to the fullest since you don't know when it'll be your last."  That's one of many generic quotes that I cannot stand.  What the hell does that even mean?  When I hear that, I think "okay...cool...uhh yeah..?"  I'm not being negative, either.  I'm being realistic. I know most people can't make extravagant plans for each day of their lives just because there's the unknown probability that it's going to be their last.  As much as I wish we all could do that, we can't.

I don't have an answer to how I think each of us as individuals should react because everyones reactions will be different, as they should and are intended to be.  I'm sure I've left you completely confused, per usual; I just wanted to say how I felt.  Oh well, you'll have forgotten about this within a day.  If not in a day, at least by the time the next big news pops up on CNN...or your Facebook feed.  Goodnight.