Hi Everyone!
I wasn't planning on posting again so soon, but I'm finding that writing is very therapeutic in this chaotic world that we're living in right now. It helps me escape from the stress and negative that I'm seeing myself and others getting caught up in.
Things have gotten to the point where I haven't watched the news in weeks. I try to avoid it on social media, but of course it's everywhere, along with other people's opinions. I'm all for having differences of opinions and rational discussions about those opinions, but I'm getting really tired of people criticizing, ridiculing or insulting others who don't think the same way as they do. We all have different perspectives.
I've even seen people insult others who post that "all lives matter" instead of saying that "black lives matter." Of course black lives matter. Racism is wrong. It always has been, and it always will be. The way I see it, people who are saying that "all lives matter" aren't trying to ignore black lives. It seems to me that they're just trying to include people of other races and cultures. After all:
Native American lives matter.
Asian lives matter.
European lives matter.
Canadian lives matter.
Animal lives matter.
All living species matter.
Every living organism is important.
There's also a lot of talk and controversy lately surrounding recent movements to defund police departments. From what I understand, this doesn't mean getting rid of police departments altogether. It sounds like they just want to allocate some of those funds to other services and departments that have been underfunded. I don't have enough knowledge on the subject just yet, so I'm not going to state my opinion on it.
I'm at the point where if you want to follow Trump, go for it. The same thing if you want to follow Biden. In fact, if you tell me that one plus one equals five, I'm okay with that. Think and believe what you want to believe. Just don't treat others poorly because they don't share your same perspective. I'm tired of pointless, counterproductive arguments.
Well, that's enough for today. Time to get back to listening to music and anticipating the days when we can enjoy live concerts in person once again. Until next time, have a great day and be kind to one another.
Sunday, June 14, 2020
Sunday, June 7, 2020
Ghosting is Bad, Mmkay?
Hi everyone,
I wasn't planning on writing anything until I had a good conversation online with a friend this morning. He brought up the subject of ghosting. He didn't like the fact that a casual friend had blocked him and basically ghosted him when all he was trying to check in and see how that person was doing. It reminded me of a former friend who did things that were very similar to what he was describing to myself and others.
Ghosting is defined as "the practice of ending a personal relationship with someone by suddenly and without explanation withdrawing from all communication." By that definition, I guess I've ghosted a few people in my time. However, these actions are usually not intentional. Most times it was just because I lost contact with the other person and didn't know how to reach them. This was especially true before the Internet, when people would change schools or move out of town. I don't intentionally stop talking to someone unless they treat myself or others poorly, or they sit back and allow such treatment to happen. I'm nice to everyone, but I don't have time for nonsense. I'd rather focus my energies and attention on people who treat others how they want to be treated.
I've been ghosted by more than a few people in my lifetime, and I'm sure it will continue to happen. Most times, I don't even give it a second thought. Intentional ghosting is a form of emotional abuse. It's immature and unacceptable. I may think about it once in a while, but I try not to let ghosting bring me down, because I know that I deserve better than that.
If anyone feels that I've ever intentionally ghosted them, I want to personally apologize for that. If you feel like I cut you off on social media, please know that I would dream of hurting anyone. I don't communicate with people as often as I'd like, but that's usually because I'm busy with work and other responsibilities. It's nothing personal. Social media doesn't hold my interest as much as it used to. If we used to be social media friends and you see that we're not, please feel free to friend request me if you'd like. Sometimes my accounts unfriend certain people if I haven't interacted with them a lot. I've had other friends complain about this problem with their accounts as well.
That's all I have to say for now. I hope everyone is doing well in these unprecedented time. Until next time, have a great day and remember to treat others well. Thanks!
I wasn't planning on writing anything until I had a good conversation online with a friend this morning. He brought up the subject of ghosting. He didn't like the fact that a casual friend had blocked him and basically ghosted him when all he was trying to check in and see how that person was doing. It reminded me of a former friend who did things that were very similar to what he was describing to myself and others.
Ghosting is defined as "the practice of ending a personal relationship with someone by suddenly and without explanation withdrawing from all communication." By that definition, I guess I've ghosted a few people in my time. However, these actions are usually not intentional. Most times it was just because I lost contact with the other person and didn't know how to reach them. This was especially true before the Internet, when people would change schools or move out of town. I don't intentionally stop talking to someone unless they treat myself or others poorly, or they sit back and allow such treatment to happen. I'm nice to everyone, but I don't have time for nonsense. I'd rather focus my energies and attention on people who treat others how they want to be treated.
I've been ghosted by more than a few people in my lifetime, and I'm sure it will continue to happen. Most times, I don't even give it a second thought. Intentional ghosting is a form of emotional abuse. It's immature and unacceptable. I may think about it once in a while, but I try not to let ghosting bring me down, because I know that I deserve better than that.
If anyone feels that I've ever intentionally ghosted them, I want to personally apologize for that. If you feel like I cut you off on social media, please know that I would dream of hurting anyone. I don't communicate with people as often as I'd like, but that's usually because I'm busy with work and other responsibilities. It's nothing personal. Social media doesn't hold my interest as much as it used to. If we used to be social media friends and you see that we're not, please feel free to friend request me if you'd like. Sometimes my accounts unfriend certain people if I haven't interacted with them a lot. I've had other friends complain about this problem with their accounts as well.
That's all I have to say for now. I hope everyone is doing well in these unprecedented time. Until next time, have a great day and remember to treat others well. Thanks!
Thursday, May 28, 2020
The World is Tired of Hate
I got the title for this post from one of the T-shirts in my collection. It felt rather appropriate considering the state of things in the world today, especially in my home state of Minnesota.
I woke up on Tuesday morning to see my social media news feed filled with information regarding the death of George Floyd the night before. I saw a couple of the videos that were posted multiple times. I couldn't believe that something like that really happened in a town that I've been to many times for ballgames and concerts over the years.
Unfortunately, this is just one in a string of terrible situations in recent years that never should have occurred. The murder of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, the false claims of threats by Amy Cooper in New York's Central Park, the tragic shooting of Justine Ruszcyk by Somali-American police officer Mohamed Noor and several other incidents in the national news immediately came to mind.
Floyd was accused of forgery, a crime that would normally carry a sentence of one to five years in jail at most. From what I've seen, it didn't look like he was actively resisting arrest. It also didn't look like three police officers needed to hold him down. The officer kneeling on his neck drew the most scrutiny. I've learned from research that his particular technique is not taught or recommended in police office training because it's likely to cut off a person's air flow. It came across as cruel and unnecessary punishment to many people.
I understand the anger regarding this situation. Floyd didn't deserve to die for the crime he was accused of. I understand the anger that's been building up for a while now. I think that part of it has been due to frustrations from the changes and limitations brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. People have lost jobs, had their hours cut, been unable to enjoy sports and live music or sometimes even go to the doctor when they need to. Most of our lives have been thrown upside down.
What I don't understand and don't condone are the looting, vandalism and violence that have occurred after Floyd's death. I get the fact that people are pissed off and need to vent, but trashing businesses only makes the situation worse. It creates chaos and puts strain on the business owners and their employees. It also threatens people's sense of security. I'm very concerned about the safety of my friends and family members who live and work in the Twin Cities area right now.
I can see Floyd's situation as a racial attack. A black man was restrained and later died primarily because of the police officers' actions. There have been too many racist incidents all across the globe in recent years. I'm sure that there are many more incidents that haven't been in the news. Racism is wrong. It always has been, and it always will be.
It feels like there's been a growing sensation of hate in the world. I'm sure that there's many causes for this. People get fed up with others for various reasons. Differences only seem to fuel the fire for some of these problems.
I don't know what the answer is and I'm not going to offer a solution, because I can't. It's going to take more than just me to resolve the issues of racism and hatred.
Hate is also wrong, and I know that many people are tired of it. I understand why people hate others at times, but hate is something that's never been in my heart. There are people that I don't like, but I definitely don't hate them. I just remove myself from the equation and move on. Life's too short to be consumed by such negative thoughts and emotions anyway.
These are just my thoughts and opinions on the matter. They in no way reflect the thoughts or opinions of anyone else. I just felt like I had to say something, because I'm hopeful that we can eventually start making efforts to work on the issues at hand in a more constructive and positive manner.
That's all I have to say for now. I probably won't blog again until music and sports resume, whenever that may be. Until next time, take care and be good to one another.
I woke up on Tuesday morning to see my social media news feed filled with information regarding the death of George Floyd the night before. I saw a couple of the videos that were posted multiple times. I couldn't believe that something like that really happened in a town that I've been to many times for ballgames and concerts over the years.
Unfortunately, this is just one in a string of terrible situations in recent years that never should have occurred. The murder of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, the false claims of threats by Amy Cooper in New York's Central Park, the tragic shooting of Justine Ruszcyk by Somali-American police officer Mohamed Noor and several other incidents in the national news immediately came to mind.
Floyd was accused of forgery, a crime that would normally carry a sentence of one to five years in jail at most. From what I've seen, it didn't look like he was actively resisting arrest. It also didn't look like three police officers needed to hold him down. The officer kneeling on his neck drew the most scrutiny. I've learned from research that his particular technique is not taught or recommended in police office training because it's likely to cut off a person's air flow. It came across as cruel and unnecessary punishment to many people.
I understand the anger regarding this situation. Floyd didn't deserve to die for the crime he was accused of. I understand the anger that's been building up for a while now. I think that part of it has been due to frustrations from the changes and limitations brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. People have lost jobs, had their hours cut, been unable to enjoy sports and live music or sometimes even go to the doctor when they need to. Most of our lives have been thrown upside down.
What I don't understand and don't condone are the looting, vandalism and violence that have occurred after Floyd's death. I get the fact that people are pissed off and need to vent, but trashing businesses only makes the situation worse. It creates chaos and puts strain on the business owners and their employees. It also threatens people's sense of security. I'm very concerned about the safety of my friends and family members who live and work in the Twin Cities area right now.
I can see Floyd's situation as a racial attack. A black man was restrained and later died primarily because of the police officers' actions. There have been too many racist incidents all across the globe in recent years. I'm sure that there are many more incidents that haven't been in the news. Racism is wrong. It always has been, and it always will be.
It feels like there's been a growing sensation of hate in the world. I'm sure that there's many causes for this. People get fed up with others for various reasons. Differences only seem to fuel the fire for some of these problems.
I don't know what the answer is and I'm not going to offer a solution, because I can't. It's going to take more than just me to resolve the issues of racism and hatred.
Hate is also wrong, and I know that many people are tired of it. I understand why people hate others at times, but hate is something that's never been in my heart. There are people that I don't like, but I definitely don't hate them. I just remove myself from the equation and move on. Life's too short to be consumed by such negative thoughts and emotions anyway.
These are just my thoughts and opinions on the matter. They in no way reflect the thoughts or opinions of anyone else. I just felt like I had to say something, because I'm hopeful that we can eventually start making efforts to work on the issues at hand in a more constructive and positive manner.
That's all I have to say for now. I probably won't blog again until music and sports resume, whenever that may be. Until next time, take care and be good to one another.
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