Can I have a BFF too?

Building on what Zián wrote about opting to not care to make it less painful for our poor little braincells to digest information, get a load of this:

I cannot even begin to describe how utterly ridiculous this is. I don’t know what’s worse: Paris Hilton resorting to an all-time low of searching for the ultimate “BFF” via a reality TV show, or people actually buying into this publicity stunt and jockeying for her attention. Really. Has global warming warped our common sense or what?

Case in point: we tend to be more interested in what entertains us, rather than what informs us. It’s either (a) we keep ourselves up to date on current issues, like, say, the recent developments in Tibet (if you’re curious, China has posted a wanted list of 21 people); or (b) we stay tuned for the next episode of around twenty people sacrificing their intellectual dignity by battling it out to be Paris’s next club buddy. Hmm… wonder which channel will get more traffic: [insert news channel here] or MTV? 

It’s rather sickening to think that we know more about pop culture than global issues; that we care more about entertainment than awareness. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t have any entertainment – I know I love my weekly dose of American Idol and House and the odd movie here and there - but there has to be a good balance. If we are capable of being such huge and obsessive fans of movies, anime, what have you, we are also capable of following news reports. Ignorance is not bliss: it’s dangerous. It makes us more vulnerable to manipulation and false information and, you have to admit, stupidity.

Ever wondered how people are brainwashed? There’s your answer.

“Meh”

When Luke Skywalker asked Yoda if the dark side of the force was stronger…Yoda explained that it wasn’t stronger, but it was easier to follow.

Now, we’re probably all familiar with the word “Meh”.  My best attempt at defining it would be…”A general expression of uncaring that goes beyond even going through the effort of saying ‘I do not care’”. Would this be accurate? I’m not sure. It will have to do for the time being.

 But in the world we live in today, I find it hard to believe people can actually walk around not caring. People are at each other’s throats over political, religious, and a zillion other differences, there’s poverty and starvation and mass manipulation by the media and…you get my point. We’re pretty messed up.

So here’s a theory: It’s not that we don’t care. It’s that if we took the burden of worrying and thinking about all these issues we’d  go crazy. And at first glance, no one seems to be doing much to make things better so caring could even alienate us from other people (odd how such a delusion could work, considering that promoting change would be the result of a sense of connection with people who are somehow not getting the elements they need to live happily).

We know, somewhere in the back of our head, that we should be doing something. But it’s much easier not to. It’s much easier to stick to our every-day routine. And Because we also know, deep down, that ignoring the problem is just not right, we keep ourselves distracted with an overload of mindless entertainment. We avoid learning about the world beyond what we see every day, because then our feelings might overcome our fear and we could (God forbid!) make an effort to get active about one cause or another.

Conclusion? “Meh”. Could it be that the word doesn’t quite mean “I don’t care” but “I want to convince myself that I don’t care because I don’t know what to do”? At least when “Meh” is the response given to things involving discrimination, poverty, war, etc.?

 If this was the case, what’d be the cure to this wave of intentional ignorance that so many people end up living in? I’m not too sure, but maybe it’s a matter of courage. All it takes is the guts to turn around and face the fact that if we don’t act up, our future could get grim…And where does this courage come from? Well, if it helps, know that there’s an ever-growing number of people who are just fed up with ignorance and impotence and so if you choose the harder path, you will not ever be alone.

Oh, and did I mention that making a difference in someone else’s life feels super good?

To put it short…it may be hard to work for the well-being of our world, but it is certainly more satisfying than the alternative.

I don’t know, just a loose idea. Thoughts?

Blog Birth Thingy

So here’s a post at nearly midnight, despite the fact that the little “This page doesn’t work” sign was neat in its own way, but some celebrating is needed; after all our baby blog is all brand new and sparkly. Time to cut the ribbon!

And so Zián ran out with a pair of big big scissors and cut off a ribbon. There was much dancing and celebrating, people ate delicious pie and ice cream and whatever your favourite foods are.  There were talking animals and fairies in jars, but they were soon freed because people knew that faeries, like all other beings, deserve equal rights. The faeries then also ate and danced and celebrated. Everyone had a super good time.

Then Zián was awakened from her dream by the sound of evil unleashing. This was because while napping, she had walked up and cut off a chunk of Kim’s hair, leaving an embarrasing baldspot. Kim was not pleased.

As a Happy New Blog Day Present, Zián bought Kim a toupee.

She’s not allowed to have scissors anymore.

(Happy Blog Birth Thingy!)