It was a bad week.
Wasn't last week was one of those epic weeks from hell? That Katrina was unbelievable. She broke a lot of hearts, and she's not done yet.
As I stood in the check-out line at Wal-Mart today, that cheesy rack of tabloids just seemed so dumb. This is what they sell at the last minute in Wal-Mart? Celebrity crap? Why not survival manuals? How to prepare your family and your pets for disaster? After all I've seen this week, you could not drag me with wild horses from my home if I could not take my pets with me. I sighed heavily, and realized that I needed to just let go and lighten up. The first thing through my head?
"Well, I picked a bad week to quit smoking...oh yeah, and I picked a bad week to quit sniffing glue...and a bad week to quit amphetamines..." I think I finally smiled, thinking about that scene from "Airplane." Then, of course, I couldn't help but think about Robert Stack walking through the terminal beating up all the religious nuts approaching him for donations. Speaking of...
It was my happy duty to shop at Wal-Mart today, after learning of their above-and-beyond corporate donation to the relief efforts. Finally, some sun is starting to shine through all the sadness of the storm. Tucker Carlson is doing as many happy storm stories as he can fit into his all-too-short hour. All the interviews he's had to cut short this week I would have been glad to watch for an hour and a half or two, because they were all really interesting, had happy endings, or were about good people doing good things. Tucker Carlson, I love you. And Keith Olbermann brought back "The Worst Person in the World" segment yesterday. Hooray!
It is okay to smile and find a laugh here and there in this horrid mess. I promise you, first responders like EMTs, police, and firefighters all do it...they crack jokes and find a reason to laugh in just about any situation. Laughter is the best medicine for trauma. If you don't feel like laughing yet, that is okay. Everyone has their own timeline for bouncing back into some kind of normalcy from extreme situations. If you aren't laughing in a few weeks, I think it's possible you may need some counseling if you were exposed to any traumatic scenes. In our state, first responders to traumatic calls are required to attend a "critical incident stress debriefing," where they sit around and talk about what happened and how they felt. It helps. I hope anyone that needs treatment for post-traumatic stress seeks it. It's certainly a real problem. Plus, life is too damn short to walk around sad and confused for too long.
I'll complain about the crummy stuff some other day. Today, I'm so grateful for the things that I have, and once again, the things that I have that are unseen, like my soul--the things that make me...well, me.
As I stood in the check-out line at Wal-Mart today, that cheesy rack of tabloids just seemed so dumb. This is what they sell at the last minute in Wal-Mart? Celebrity crap? Why not survival manuals? How to prepare your family and your pets for disaster? After all I've seen this week, you could not drag me with wild horses from my home if I could not take my pets with me. I sighed heavily, and realized that I needed to just let go and lighten up. The first thing through my head?
"Well, I picked a bad week to quit smoking...oh yeah, and I picked a bad week to quit sniffing glue...and a bad week to quit amphetamines..." I think I finally smiled, thinking about that scene from "Airplane." Then, of course, I couldn't help but think about Robert Stack walking through the terminal beating up all the religious nuts approaching him for donations. Speaking of...
It was my happy duty to shop at Wal-Mart today, after learning of their above-and-beyond corporate donation to the relief efforts. Finally, some sun is starting to shine through all the sadness of the storm. Tucker Carlson is doing as many happy storm stories as he can fit into his all-too-short hour. All the interviews he's had to cut short this week I would have been glad to watch for an hour and a half or two, because they were all really interesting, had happy endings, or were about good people doing good things. Tucker Carlson, I love you. And Keith Olbermann brought back "The Worst Person in the World" segment yesterday. Hooray!
It is okay to smile and find a laugh here and there in this horrid mess. I promise you, first responders like EMTs, police, and firefighters all do it...they crack jokes and find a reason to laugh in just about any situation. Laughter is the best medicine for trauma. If you don't feel like laughing yet, that is okay. Everyone has their own timeline for bouncing back into some kind of normalcy from extreme situations. If you aren't laughing in a few weeks, I think it's possible you may need some counseling if you were exposed to any traumatic scenes. In our state, first responders to traumatic calls are required to attend a "critical incident stress debriefing," where they sit around and talk about what happened and how they felt. It helps. I hope anyone that needs treatment for post-traumatic stress seeks it. It's certainly a real problem. Plus, life is too damn short to walk around sad and confused for too long.
I'll complain about the crummy stuff some other day. Today, I'm so grateful for the things that I have, and once again, the things that I have that are unseen, like my soul--the things that make me...well, me.
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