Our Angry World

Angry people were something else before they were angry.

How did they get that way? Is it contagious? How do we turn the tides on this horrible trend? These are questions that greater minds than mine are tackling. But me, being a scientist of thought and feeling, I couldn’t help but look at the problem.

Is it possible that we as a society are getting so deeply involved in artificially made universes that we are losing our connection with life?

I binge watch TV, lots of it. Partly because, as a writer, it’s my business, partly because I get hooked, and partly because it keeps me company while I make dog clothes. I watch a lot of dark series. The writing and storytelling is at times brilliant. I get pulled into new worlds and the lives of damaged individuals screwing up lives as they yearn for more, not knowing what ‘more’ actually is. I fall in love with the hero’s strength as he/she overcomes whatever ugliness he / she gets trapped in.

After and eight hour binge of being immersed in worlds of murder, manipulation and loss, I feel disconnected, like I need to make conscious efforts to re-connect with the real world. Like the Charlie brown character, Pig-pen, I feel like I have a cloud of dirt moving around me. Sometimes I actually house-clean the apartment. That’s my way of clearing the slate to begin a fresh start. Then I create something and I’ back to being me.

Having watched every brilliantly written dramatic series out there, I started watching something on Netflix starring Addie McDowell. I like her a lot. She’s a pet advocate. I just saw her at the Dog Film Festival. Had I known the series was from the Hallmark Channel, I might not have watched it. Yes, I am a writer snob, and I didn’t think Hallmark would present the level of authenticity that I like. But they did. The characters were real and compelling and I got hooked. And here’s the thing. After an eight hour marathon, I didn’t feel dark and disturbed, I actually felt happy!

Then this morning I watched President Obama give Lt Col. Charles Kettles the medal of honor. It filled me with such joy. What a courageous thing he did, saving so many men at great risk to himself. I thought, why don’t we see more of this? Why don’t we honor more of our heroes? Why don’t we honor each other for the little things we do and see. We are emotionally affected by whatever is thrown at us, whatever we choose to consume. Perhaps we should consciously throw out an overwhelming abundance of kindness and joy. Perhaps we should acknowledge good deeds. Perhaps that will out-scream the anger and misery.

I promised those who supported me through my dark times that I would pay their kindness forward. 

I recently had a best friend turn into a an angry she-monster, dead-set on destroying me. She’s rich, so she could afford to let her lawyer do her dirty work. She used the law to bully me. The law, when misused, is a formidable enemy. Me, being a struggling artist, should have, by all logic, lost that struggle. But so many of my friends helped me financially. So many more offered love and emotional support. Finally I found a lawyer who saw the injustice and took the case on pro bono.

So how do I fulfill my promise and pay it forward? How do I make a difference? I just do it now. And if it doesn’t work, I do something else, and if that doesn’t work, then I try something else. Right now I’m going with Dogs 4 Kindness, dogs and their people who share kind acts they did or observed, no matter how small, then inviting five of their friends to do the same. Woofie and Bear will set it in motion.

You can Follow Woofie & Bear on Facebook. Here is the thread where people will be posting links to their pictures.