Finding the Good

I have to admit- I am absolutely horrible when it comes to staying updated. I spent the last year with no cable- just Netflix and Hulu- therefore, I have not been routinely checking the news. But, now that I am staying with my parents for the summer, I get to stay a little more in the know. Of course, my father watches the evening news every night. So, just like old times, we all sit down on the couch as my Dad turns on the local news and then catch the new episodes of “The Voice” (Definitely trumps all the other talent shows out there!).

The only reason I look forward to this time of day is because it is a sort of quality family time that I definitely took for granted growing up. But, last night we were overwhelmed by the images of the Moore, OK tornado. I cannot tell you how many times I have sat on my family couch as pictures of horror and tragedy played across the screen. You would think after being exposed to such things (9/11 occurring when I was only in the 4th grade), I would decide to just channel surf or scroll through my Pinterest account. Same ‘ole same ‘ole.

I don’t think that will ever happen to me, especially when I watch such sad images sitting on my warm couch, in my childhood home, surrounded by my furry pets and loving family. No. Those images, especially in this setting, strike a deep chord within me. Here I am, sitting on my couch, surrounded by almost everything that holds any significance in my life, watching while hundreds of people’s lives are shattered either physically or emotionally. I can’t be one of those people spouting off “Sandy vs. OK” or “God’s work in progress” or even the “Dorothy revisited” humor. I just can’t be one of those people that stops caring, because the idea of not caring, even over the smallest tragedies, scares me.

One thing I do struggle with is the comments, such as, “It’s sad how this gets all the coverage, but what about all the children dying in third-world countries” etc. Truly, I don’t know how to respond to that. The only thing I can think is that I can’t think about all the horrors that I know happen day by day. I just can’t. I can’t because it is more distanced from me and because I would go insane. If the media was somehow able to cover every-single-horrific-death…. well, I know I’d be out of my mind and miserable (sometimes it already feels like they do, they sensationalize too much for my appetite). I suppose, the sad thing about myself is that, to some extent, I have to be made to care in the way that I have to know it is happening and I have to think about it as happening to individual beings. I have to be aware of it. I’m human, I can’t be a perfect humanitarian. I’d like to see someone come close.

But last night left me feeling really low- just like after 9/11, Katrina, Sandy Hook, Boston, and countless others (those just being the first to come to mind). I feel like I have been seeing too much tragedy within the last 6 months. I know this world has good in it, and as always, I was determined to find a glimmer of it last night.

So, after watching the news for awhile and trying to refrain from replying to some of the ridiculous comments on the New York Times articles, we ended up watching The Voice, and that eventually brought us to Youtube. Once again, Youtube saves the day. I stumbled onto the SoulPancake Channel on Youtube, and eventually, the Kid President video. I’m just going to throw it in here now, because if you haven’t seen it- (which you quite possibly might have by now, I know it’s been around for awhile….like I said, I’m slow on these things) you need to see it. 

And there was my little glimmer of hope and a genuine good laugh. I hope, despite all the tragedy the world experiences each day, that you are finding a little bit of good in it.