I haven't seen the movie "Avatar" yet. The weather's been lousy and honestly, hubby and I prefer matinees and our schedules haven't been lining up. I have noticed how much everyone else has liked it though and it seems like some people are having a hard time these days because they don't live on the planet where "Avatar" takes place (I apologize for not being able to recall the name). Excuse me?
There seem to be some people who are getting depressed because of this. Depression is horrible and I'm not trying to make light of the situation. I'm trying to understand. The only explanation I can think of is that people feel helpless to change the world they live in now. And come to think of it, how many times have you heard someone utter "Why bother? What can we do?" As if "we" are comprised of people without any power.
I have to admit that it's not hard to feel powerless when you see the pictures of the devastation that's befallen Haiti, the current political unrest everywhere, reports about the employment situation, health care; the list goes on. And if I watched it on a continuous 15 minute loop, all day long I might get to the point where I'd like to pack my bags and go live on another planet.
Does anyone remember when you had a half hour of local news and an hour of national news every night? When they actually reported the news and you didn't have to sit through a media commercial given by a talking head or a political pundit with an agenda? And it didn't last all day. And all night.
This is not the first time in history the world has been a mess. It's always been a mess in one way or another. An overwhelming mess. But we haven't always been privy to it 24/7. What's the solution?
The easiest one for me is to watch enough news to find out what's going on, turn off the television and do at least one positive thing to bring the world into balance. That could be anything from separating my recycling to donating my time or money to something I think will make a difference. Sounds simple but I swear I feel a little less overwhelmed when I do something positive.
What about you?
