Antidote

 

Recently, I was talking to a friend who enjoys reading my blog. She mentioned that it had been a least a month since I updated it. There’s a reason why. When I started this blog, my main goal was to attract a following for my writing. I promised that it would not be political because I subscribed the old fashioned notion of avoiding talking about religion and politics.

But somehow, writing a blog like mine in the midst of mass shootings, including sniper attacks on police officers and the death of Black citizens at the hands of law enforcement seemed frivolous.  Every time I thought I had a good topic, another national tragedy would occur—so I decided to wait a week or so. The week turned into a month and threatened to become six months and then a year.

Somewhere along the way, I realized that especially because the news is so grim so much of the time, perhaps a blog entry that brought a smile or a nod of recognition to my followers might be cathartic.

This revelation came to me while I was perusing Face Book after the mass shooting at the Pulse Night Club in Orlando, which is the nearest big city to where I live. Even though I personally didn’t know anyone who died that horrible night, I still felt deeply saddened. Face Book was full of memes about “love winning” and posts about the night of terror. The news was brimming with stories about the perpetrator and most importantly, the victims.

Then my brother-in-law died.  It was a tsunami of sadness and shared grief.

I found myself seeking out Face Book posts showing pictures of children, dogs and kittens—and gardens, rainbows and waterfalls and—well, you get the picture. I was seeking an antidote to all of the sadness around me.rainbows-1082107__340

So, I decided that it was time to get back to the blog and writing about the sometimes silly and quirky observations about my life.

I hope you understand. See you tomorrow.

(And here’s a picture of a waterfall and a rainbow!)

Picture courtesy of Pixabay

 

 

 

 

 

About Kathy

I grew up in Buffalo,New York the second eldest child in a family that eventually included eight children. The neighborhood was an Irish-American enclave. These two facts explain a great deal about me. I spent many years as a teacher who really thought of herself as a writer.

5 Responses to Antidote

  1. Gail says:

    How,did I miss your family grief?, hugs and prayers to you!

  2. Marilyn Shapiro says:

    I so understand, Kathy! Nice piece!

  3. Marilyn Briant Rockmore says:

    Yes Kathy I agree the news is grim and can get us all down if we don’t find an antidote in all the other, kinder, beautiful and heartwarming things going on around us and in the world. Shame that the news media seems to miss finding that for us, but as you say, its up to us to seek it for ourselves and I too love all that stuff of facebook!

  4. To be hit with your very personal loss on top of all the other seemingly out-of-control tragedies is just too, too much. Give yourself time and be gentle with yourself. I just posted new photos of my girl cats if you want to stop by and say hello. 🙂

  5. Marge Weldy says:

    I am in complete agreement with you, Kathy. When is enough bad news ENOUGH? It used to be that we had to turn on the nightly news to find out “the newest national or world tragedy.” Now, with Twitter, Facebook and other social sites, we all know what has happened long before news time.

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