Monday 25 July 2011

Not what I wanted to say

Not the words I was going to post. Not even what I wanted to say. Such is life.

As I quickly mentioned on facebook, this weekend has been a terrible weekend for news. In the order that I heard about things, there was Norway bomb, shootings and death of (I think) 92, Amy Winehouse's death, China train crash killing 35, and the Texas shooting of 5.

Since the death of someone close to me some years back it changed in me something unexpected. It's like I saw and felt empathy to death and loss in more dimensions. I actually cried at a film. Me?! Crying? At a film? (I hid it well!) I originally thought it was a temporary thing due to the obvious. I was wrong.

The Norway sadness is multiplied when people found out it is the youth that were the majority of those that died. I remember the first time I heard "you should never outlive your kids." It's not the way life should proceed. Or to put another way, it's unnatural. Maybe that is why it hits us so hard.


The other thing these news stories do is make me feel a heavy heart for all the sad, demoralising events not being reported. Some because they are so regular we loose interest. The kind of events we would like to stop being told about. The kind of events that, if we thought about it, would make us turn away or simply bring us to tears.


I was reminded of something I heard when watching Batman Begins the other day. To paraphrase,

"we fall so we can learn to get up"

With every bad, sometimes crushing, event, there are opportunities to learn and make things better and construct a new life. There is hope. Hope is probably the last thing we cling to after we have nothing else. We sit on a world of potential. And I hope I am not "inspired" to cry at any more films!


Stay hopeful

(By the way, as some people were interested, the tears in the first two images above are actually for the end of one life and the beginning of another. Such is life.)

ADP

Tuesday 19 July 2011

Woooo! Blog is back up!

I've had to jump through some hoops in the last few days. Jump through hoops, spend some late nights online reading similar problems, playing a bit of blues through the night while I sat at my computer with only the glow from my computer monitor for warmth. It's ok. You can shed a tear for me.

But we are back! So please check out the last blog post which went up as the blog went down. The kids are now truly alright. I'm off for a walk in this beautiful summer weather. :-)



ADP

Friday 15 July 2011

Kids!

A real conversation I overheard at a wedding:

"I don't know if I'll be able to come. My little girl can scream down the place."

"Bring her! What's a wedding without life? And kids are life."



Whether people like to have kids at weddings or not, is completely up to them. I just make sure I can do my "James Brown dodging the kids" dance when they are there! Present or not, they are beautiful. Balls of energy that have an uncanny ability to drain you of yours. But they still make you laugh.



I once gazed at my nephew for about 20 minutes, watching him explore. His hands. His feet. All the bright things in the room. Everything was to be investigated. Kids must experience everything with all the senses they have. Which unfortunately also means trying to eat everything!



There is also what kids represent. Babies aren't born thinking "I know enough, I don't have to develop anything." They want to learn everything they see. Babies aren't born with prejudice. They are born with open minds. Babies aren't born with malice. Every move they make is honest.



The funny thing is I'm not even the mushy type. But no matter which way you look at them, you will see life reflected back at you.


ADP