Today was spent being alone and mellow with my thoughts. All without benefit of a bong or a joint!
I never did do the bong or joint thing, even in the 70s, truth be told...
No,I was the girl over in the corner with her nose shoved in a book.
Or doing some football players English homework for him.
Yes that was me. A nerd girl in the 70s. Always just left of center but it just sounds so hippie-ish to talk about hanging out with oneself on purpose and without chemical help doesn't it?
A shame actually.
I think before we were constantly bombarded by friendly fire (the media) we had to (gasp) think for ourselves. A man out building a barn or hunting in the woods has a lot of time to think, especially thoughts about cause and effect.
Me bring home food= GOOD me miss my shot = BAD om gah wah
A woman similarly, stirring the campfire tending children and a forgetful old crone of a grandma positioned within watching distance, each had time to think their individual thoughts.
A simple, immeasurable, priceless, commodity in our communication driven world.
Solitude.
Time to think
Time to interpret the input from the world around you into your own personal data base of experiences and thoughts without a brightly shined media "face" telling you not only what the news is but how you should "interpret" the news.
When I was a little girl back in the 60's (ouch I know) Kronkite delivered the news as dry as a brown industrial paper towel that you would pull out of a rack at grade school.
Left to form their own thoughts, we the public did just that.
So at what subtle point did we start letting journalists not just inform us but interpret for us? Because that is were we are now and I suspect it is not all their fault but rather our own. We got fat and lazy intellectually speaking. WE got busy with the details of our life and looked at these brightly glossed people as saving us time from reading the paper and framing our own thoughts.
Well that is over and the backlash is tremendous. People are taking the reins back into their own hands. The free wheelingwild wild west of the Internet is their main source and magazines and news shows via television networks, are fighting for their lives.
Women consult their iPad while they wait for the timer to go off on the modern day cooking fire of the micro wave.
Men scour the concrete jungle of the city with a Blackberry or iPod in hand - weapon of choice.
And they each weigh their information and consider their options.
Maybe we are starting to think for ourselves again,
maybe...
The worm has turned.
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SO IT'S ABOUT TAKING OUR POWER BACK ISN'T IT? MYSELF, IF I TURN ON THE NEWS AND I SEE A PANEL OF "EXPERTS" DISCUSSING A SUBJECT, IE. THE OIL SPILL IN THE GULF, OR WHETHER OR NOT A 45 YEAR OLD SHOULD GET PREGNANT, I TURN THE T.V. RIGHT OFF. BUT THE OTHER DAY I SAW KEVIN COSTNER TALKING ABOUT A MACHINE THAT HE USED IN HIS MOVIE WATERWORLD AND THAT COULD CLEAN UP THE OIL SPILL AND I WANTED TO HEAR MORE! CAN ONE MAN DO SOMETHING SO GREAT? HOW INSPIRING THAT WOULD BE?
ReplyDeleteI WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT EVERYTIME I READ YOU IT MAKES ME THINK, LAUGH, GET INVOLVED, AND SOMETIMES EVEN CHANGE. YOU KEEP ON GOING PEN GIRL!!!
I've kept my power cuz I remember the 60's 70's too. In fact I was yelling at a anchorwoman this morning telling her I didn't agree with her interpretation.
ReplyDeleteFor those who have not yet thought for themselves (circa- no electronics) I say think.for.yourself.
Great Post.
Thank you both SO much.
ReplyDeleteDeeply and from the bottom of my caring and bong free heart. :>)
Indie