the world has gone mad

There is so much backward logic in the world. Has it always been this way? (a question I find myself asking a lot.......)

Once upon a time in a different life, I had a husband who left me. He ran off to another town with another woman and said many hurtful, horrible things to me. And during those times, back in those olden days, he posted on his MySpace wall (I told you it was the olden days) a quote attributed to Dr. Seuss:

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."

I knew it was a virtual slap-in-the-face to me, the bitter ex-wife who criticized his choices and who he was. And it infuriated me because that's not what that quote is meant for, damnit!

I knew he took some smug solace in the knowledge that Dr. Seuss, of all people, approved of him being who he was and that I didn't matter, nor did my opinion. And oh it burned me up inside.

I see this all the time, and I suppose it's much more in my face because of the internet. But every day, I see dozens of examples of people bastardizing some quote that was meant to inspire. They post these quotes and and use them to justify bad/damaging/unhealthy behaviors.

And they are everywhere. There is no shortage of fun little quotes on the internet. Heck, I have a board of them on Pinterest, as do many others.

But lately....I feel jaded when I read them. Just a million and one more excuses to justify shitty behavior/actions.

I see my friends doing it and, oh, it burns me up inside. People I know who are smart and good and kind and wonderful.....and they are also being deliberately obtuse with regard to their own emotional intelligence.

I want to shake them sometimes. "No! Don't make excuses to settle! Don't make excuses to accept less than you deserve! Don't make excuses to waste another year less happy than you could be!"

It doesn't burn as badly as that stupid quote my stupid ex posted that one stupid time on stupid old MySpace. (Sorry, Dr. Seuss....you know I don't really think you're stupid.....) But sometimes, reading these quotes and how seeing how folks corrupt them.....it burns a tiny bit.

I sat thinking about this while on Pinterest this morning. I should just stop pinning quotes. I mean...what if I'm just as guilty? What if I've done the same thing? I probably have. That thought burns a bit, too.

It's just another frustrating thing that people do that I have no control over that makes me just want to throw my computer out the window and take my kids to a remote patch of land in Montana and never be heard from again.

100 words - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

Her name is strongly Japanese, although she looks anything but. Through the grainy veil of a webcam, though, she can be anything you want her to be I suppose.

"You're so strong" she says as you suit up in your gi for her. Of course your lessons ended years ago and you haven't actually practiced. Although you'll tell anyone who will listen that you will kick their ass if you have to.

"What is that over there?" she asks, gesturing towards the corner of the room. The little toy robot is your daughters. But you lie and say it's yours.

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This entry is for my friend Lance's 100 Word Song writing prompt. This weeks is 100 words based on the song Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots by The Flaming Lips.

note to self

The more disciplined I am in life, the happier I am.

what love is like

A friend wrote (or at least half wrote) a very beautiful story about how she got together with her fiance.

It reminds me a lot of my relationship with M. We struggled for years and years. And I got to a point where it hurt too badly to be with him so I ended our friendship. We were both in horrible, horrible spaces when we met and for a couple of years after...and it just wasn't our time.  And like Ally, I got to a point where I really had to so some soul searching and decide what I was willing to live with......the pain of just being friends or the pain of living without him.

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M and I had dated (poorly) and broken up (even more poorly). We didn't speak for a while, but of course that didn't last either. We struggled and argued for months and decided to start all over as friends. The point was to build a solid friendship, but I admit I had an ulterior motive. I figured "Yeah, we build a friendship....so we can be together". How awful to build a friendship on false pretenses. I think I knew how awful it was back then, I just didn't want to admit it.

Anyways....so for months we "worked on a friendship". Well... he worked. He worked very very hard at becoming a very good friend to me. And over the course of a few short months, he became my best friend.

One day we had this totally random unplanned day out. We went and explored the city and ended up getting tattoos together (no, not matching!). And it was just such a fun, awesome, easy, great, purely happy day.

And at the end of that day when we dropped me off and went off to do something else, I sat in my living room and cried because I knew that I had to accept that he would never love me like I loved him. But he was now my best friend and I couldn't just walk away. And I had to finally and truly accept that we were just friends and nothing more and that chapter was over.

That day was one of the best and worst days of that year. It was so so great and so so sad. But finally...after three years of struggle...I finally accepted the romance just wasn't there and decided it was time to move on and figure out how to get over this man while having him as my best friend.

And I gave up. And it was about two months later that he came to me one night and professed his love for me and hasn't left my side since. And when I told him about my recollection of the awesome/awful day, he laughed at me and said "That's funny, because that's the day I realized I could never be just friends with you".

Funny how life works out like that.

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I really have no idea how Ally's story ends but I want to know. Well, obviously it ends well because he put a ring on it and the are wedding planning. But if you happen to read this and happen to read hers too, please go pester her to finish her story. 

what ails me

I am beginning to think that this year is the year God really teaches me that I don't know anything.

Last year I learned a lot and changed a lot. But in all that new life, I was (and still am) just a baby. It's one thing to really learn things. It's one thing to come to a point of truly believing the truth.

But it's an entirely different thing to walk it every single day. And in a way, life can be harder when your eyes are opened to certain truths. I know how I'm supposed to respond or behave in certain situations. I know the answer! I know exactly what I'm supposed to do.

And I cannot bring myself to do it. I fail over and over and over. I know how I should respond or think or act....but actually doing what I know I'm supposed to do has been a huge struggle for me this year.

It's almost some weird curse, having the knowledge of how to make your life better. Because when you know, it feels like that much greater a failure when you aren't able to quite do it.

getting along

I've lost some "friends" over the past couple of days, in the wake of the Zimmerman trial. I lost friends in the wake of Newtown, too.

And I'm ok with it.

It may not be the choice most other folks would make. That's ok. In no way do I intend to judge someone else by my choice. For me, for my heart, for my soul, for my brain, for my sanity.....severing those ties was something that I needed to be ok with...for a few reasons...

1) I know the status quo is to smile and nod and try to ignore people with different, possibly offensive views. And that's cool, I can get on board with that.  Except when that complacency might end up with my kid dead one day.  When I sit there and smile and nod when gun nuts go on and on about their "2nd amendment right!", I feel like I'm helping pave the way for another school shooting. There are some thing that I don't feel I can be neutral on, because important things are at stake.  I think the "don't rock the boat" mentality is how we've ended up in the strangle hold of the NRA.....no one wants to get in fights or offend their neighbor. All too often people who hold those extreme views can't  really be talked to anyways. So we all just sit and smile and maybe mutter things behind their backs, but no one stands up to the bullies. No one stands up for those who can't stand up for themselves. And then we end up with dead kids. 

So you get into a discussion about Newtown or Trayvon Martin and people either get quiet or they get mad. And the problem doesn't get talked about or fixed and then another kid dies.

As I was writing this, a friend posted this on FB. Much better wordign than I ever could come up with.... "And to remain silent is to give tacit admission that we are okay with the cycle continuing."

2)On a more personal level....and I know some may not understand this.....people may not agree. That's ok. This is how I feel about it.

This needs to be personal. I believe we have done our society a disservice by compartmentalizing these tragedies, by distancing ourselves and ignoring that it could happen to us. I believe we are a worse nation for dismissing the sorrow of our neighbors.....even if they are neighbors we've never met and who live 1000 miles away. 

We need to let that sorrow and grief and anger and pain be part of our reality. These aren't news stories....they are moms and dads and kids like your or me and the thing is........at the rate we're, one day it will be you or me that's the news story. 

With that in mind.....your insistence on no change to gun laws in light of Newtown........your insistence that Trayvon Martin brought his own death on himself....your insistence that we are not a racist nation........the things you insist on defending are not only offensive, they are damaging. And deadly. They are dangerous to my children. And my neighbors children. And your children, even if you may want to ignore it. 

I see a lot of comments and posts and news articles talking about logic and reason and how we should dismiss the heart of the matter....what happens when a kid gets murdered. And I firmly believe that we are making ourselves a terrible country by choosing heartlessness when it suits us.

This needs to be personal because I am not so delusional that I can pretend it might not be my kids one day.

Your defense of current gun laws, your defense of the outcome of the Zimmerman verdict are direct attacks on my child's right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Maybe we don't want to think about it that way.....Columbine and Aurora and Newtown parents might not have thought of it that way either. Defense of these hurtful ideals directly harms my children. 

You don't have enough respect for me, my kids, or our right to life. You openly advocate for things that support the status quo of children dying. So why are you my friend? 

3) One last reason I've lost friends....lack of respect. People have been posting some shitty stuff. In the days after Newtown, before there was even a single funeral, I had friends posting memes about buying more bullets and making gun jokes. After the Zimmerman verdict, I had friends posting that shit about what a juvenile delinquent he was or memes about whiney liberals "pulling the race card" or saying crap like "The system worked! Yay!"

Have some respect. Have a little class. I lost a friend or two not because we disagree........but because I am not going to sit around while you gloat over the dead bodies of someones children.  I'm doing us both a favor by not remaining your friend after you have the nerve to post that crap..........I lost all respect for you. I'm not your friend if I don't respect you.

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I know I have garnered more than a few sideways stares this year. The past couple days have not remedied that. I think I've made a few friends uncomfortable. I may have lost friends I don't know about. I may have earned my way to the "ignore" list. 

Over the past couple of years, one of the lessons I've learned is this: there is no value in keeping a "friend" who disrespects you. Who calls you names. Who insults you. There is no value in holding on to someone who hurts you and makes your life worse. I've mentioned before...it's all connected. I don't need to put those harmful thoughts and ideas in my heart, brain, and soul. I don't really need daily reminders that people think I'm stupid or beneath them. I know it. I accept it. It isn't really healthy to beat it into my own head daily.

What I've also learned is that I feel like a terrible human being when I keep people in my life just to avoid "rocking the boat". My gut tells me that it's not helpful or productive. Not for me, not for my community.

I want to be that zen person who smiles and blithely rattles off some very zen response and loves everyone even if they don't care if my kid dies or not. I want to be that person. Maybe someday I'll grow into that person. Although, as I approach my 40th year, I suspect that I am just not meant to be her.

So in the meantime...........I'm losing "friends". 

At the end of the day.....I guess everyone is broken and hurting and damaged. The difference is the degree of the damage.

So when you meet someone you want to judge,  I feel like that's God calling you to recognized that you aren't as bad off as you think you are. You could be worse off.