Most of the blogs I follow I choose to follow because they amuse me, make me laugh, or simply brighten my day. Several of the bloggers, these great writer friends of mine, I think of as my friends even though we have never met and most likely never will. We share little bits and pieces of our lives with one another. We have a connection, a commonality that I find greatly rewarding. A couple of them I even exchange emails with and have vague and distance plans to meet over coffee someday. But not all the blogs I follow make me happy. Some of them anger me or make me sad.
One blog in particular… But I will get to that. First you should know that I am awful at following news, news of any sort. This has always been a problem of mine but since having kids the focus of my attention and energy has drifted more and more inward to my little family. And while I think this can be natural and healthy, I also am finding it more concerning as this feeling of disconnect with the world in general grows. Things, big things are happening out there but so are little things that have less of a voice and tend to get pushed aside with each shouting headline. I am ashamed to say that I get most of my “news” from day old Colbert Reports, random friends’ Facebook status, and various blogs that are mostly satirical in nature. None of these sources are really helping me stay abreast of current world affairs. Except when they do.
Back to that blog, that one that is so beautifully written but that I find so painful to read. Words smeared like thick unruly oil paint, harsh lines of charcoal gray, streaks of burnt sienna, and slashes of dusty yellow sunshine barely noticeable amidst the dark colors used over and over again at the hands of this blogger, this painter who uses words instead of paint. I cringe when I get a notification that she has posted again. I cringe because of the horrific topics and the rawness in the way she writes about them. But I also cringe because to me the reality of human trafficking, domestic abuse, police brutality, and abject poverty can simply go away with a click of my mouse. It pains me that it is so easy to disregard so much pain.
The wordsmith behind this blog, Maiya, lives in Papua New Guinea and she writes from personal experience as well as from the experiences of her neighbors, friends, and community. I am ashamed that I had to look up Papua New Guinea on my globe and that I know next to nothing about this far away land.
I am honestly not sure what I am trying to get at. I am not naïve to the daily sufferings around the world, one does not need to look far to find it, certainly not as far as half way around the world. But yesterday when this blogger seemed to falter, to show signs of giving up, I could not get out of my head what a loss it would be, not just to me but to others. While the headlines roar and get more than their just due of attention, it is the whispers that chill me. It is the whispers that get my attention. And Maiya is a poet of whispers.
Since I am on this subject so atypical for me, I would like to point out two other blog posts, each on a very different topic, that resonate with me. Just a little bit of this and that.
Ok, sorry for skittering sideways on you but I needed to get this out of my head. My next post will be about sasquatches, unless I get lazy and you don’t hear from me until Sunday in which case I will throw a Simple Sunday post at you and you will have to wait until early next week to read about sasquatches.
Shoes On The Wrong Feet 
It is hard to look directly at so much pain and suffering. And I am also ashamed at how easy it is to stay in my happy bubble of peace.
I find that if I think too hard on the subject it starts to consume me and I feel self loathing and shame for being born into a level of comfort a good chunk of the population will never know. Staying in my happy bubble of peace, as you put it, is quite simple but it does not solve anything. The problem is that I have no idea where even to start…
Your blog post to share awareness was a good start 🙂
Thank you Beth. This topic has been on my mind for quite a while now and today this post just sort of wrote itself. I would like to think that awareness is where change is born.
It is sooo hard for me to watch the news because it usually spirals me into a depression. I love how we all are able to reach out to each other through these blogs.
The news either pisses me off or depresses me so I tend to avoid it.
There are so many things to be changed in the this world we live in. Where does one small person start?
Well, you start with your compassion and rescue of dogs and then you tell your story so others can learn. Maiya started with her blog to spread awareness. They seem like small things and they are. But to answer your question, I really don’t know and that bothers me a great deal. It is very frustration.
I’ll admit, I also get most of my news via others’ blogs, Facebook posts, and MSN (but only because that is my home page when I open Internet Explorer). I find it difficult to watch the news, not only for the reasons you gave, but also because there are things on the news that I don’t think my 5 year old is ready to see and learn about. I, too, focus more on the kids, rather than get caught up in all that is wrong with the world. We don’t tend to watch a lot of broadcast t.v. but when we do, it is together.
I LOVE your description of her blog, so beautifully using images to describe her words. 🙂
Oh, there is no way I would want my kids watching the news. My kids are sheltered from the harshness of the world and I am fine with that for now.
Thank you for your compliment. I am not usually one for poetry but her blog has such a passion and deals with so many powerful issues that I am drawn into her words. It was fun to write that description of her writing, I am glad you liked it. 🙂
My friend, I did falter because it is hard to look at so much pain constantly. It’s hard to write about it constantly as well and that day as I posted I felt like I couldn’t go on. Then you posted your comment. It helped on a truely dark day. You have helped me like others who drop by my blog to leave comments. THANK YOU!!!!
You are very welcome although I don’t believe my help is all that great. I think your words are important and so necessary to have out there in the world for people to read. The way you are able to describe and express such emotion about so many difficult topics is a gift. I am glad you are carrying on.