Not Always Bliss

Warning, I am about to step on my soap box…

The other morning, as I was perusing the FaceBook Statuses of my “friends” I came across this status:

shame on you America: the only country where they have homeless without shelter, children going to bed without eating, elderly going without needed meds, and mentally ill without treatment – yet they have a benefit for the people of Haiti on 12 TV stations,and I have to get asked to donate $ every where I go but yet we…can’t keep our own country right!! 99% of people won’t have balls to copy and report this!

I can’t even begin to tell you how much this particular post annoyed, angered and offended me.

I’m not close enough with this particular “friend” to engage in an all out “you are ignorant because” discussion on facebook, so I let it pass. And yet, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. Later that day I went back to visit this particular individual’s page, so i could copy his status message for this post, and I happened to read some of the comments to his post. I was even more astounded and angered by the ignorance, and outright ugliness of some of his commenters.

It is amazing to me that in light of such a tragedy, with over 100,000 people having lost their lives, people can be so callous, so insensitive, so selfish.

Let me make something clear, I am WELL aware of how messed up our country is. I realize we are in the middle of an economic crisis the likes of which this country has not seen in an extremely long time (if ever). I realize there are thousands upon thousands of Americans without jobs, without health care, and even, yes, without homes.

I realize that something has to be done.

Don’t think that when I heard that the Hope For Haiti Telethon raised over $60 million dollars, I thought “wow, imagine if we could pool our resources to raise that kind of money for this country, for our economy”. Because, really, how amazing would that be?

But never, not for a minute, did I think that it was WRONG for us to be raising money for another nation. For a nation so much more in need. So much more in pain.

Let’s be honest, yes, there is poverty in this country, and I know there are areas in this country where the poverty is far beyond anything I can begin to imagine in my “world”. That being said, even in the worst areas, we have an infrastructure, we have programs, we have aid. I realize people slip through the cracks, I realize that much more needs to be done, but we have HOPE.

WE DO help our own country. I don’t know about you, and I certainly don’t know about the individuals posting on that particular facebook status, but I donate to charity, to American charities, whenever I can. I give goods, food, clothing, jackets, and money, whenever the need arises, whenever I get an urge to do something for someone else.

And there are so many wonderful organizations and programs you can join to help out. So many charities out there, reaching out to those less fortunate in this country.

Even in our toughest economic times, we are a rich nation, rich in generosity, rich in resources, rich in opportunity.

Haiti, on the other hand, is not. Even in their best times, outside such a tragedy, they are a nation with less. Less infrastructure, less opportunities, less hope.

So, we step up. WE, the INDIVIDUALS, reach into our purses, our pockets, and we give. Of our OWN MONEY. Of our OWN FREE WILL. We give.

And what could possibly be so wrong in that?

This particular individual who posted that status message calls himself a Christian. As a Christian myself, I find that laughable. As Christians, how can we speak against anyone willing to help fellow humans? Regardless of what nation they live in?

There is a difference between wanting to help your own nation, and criticizing it for helping others in the midst of unspeakable tragedy.

I wonder myself how much this individual, and those who commented with such ignorance to his post, have donated to ANY charity in the last month? Year? Lifetime? I wonder how much they have done besides bitch about the state of our economy?

I wonder, but I won’t lose any sleep over it…Because I know the rest of us are doing enough to cover the rest of them.

Ignorance…not always bliss, is it?

Welcome to PleasantVille – Population…Expanding

Remember that movie? Remember how perfect everything was, before those obnoxious little teenagers showed up and started screwing around with everyone’s hearts and minds? Alright, sure, you could technically say that even though everything “seemed” perfect on the surface, it really wasn’t, and that’s the true lesson of the movie, but then you’d be just like those annoying little teenagers. They didn’t KNOW it wasn’t perfect, so they were perfectly happy in their imperfect lives. Ignorance is bliss and all that, right?

Whatever…the point is that they were unaware of the “bad stuff” and focused only on the good. Living in today’s society, it is easy to imagine how living in a “perfect”, Pleasantville like world might seem tempting.

But since we don’t really have the option of crossing over into that world, and since we’d probably screw it all up like those obnoxious little teenagers anyway, I suppose it’s up to us to make THIS world a little more pleasant instead. Don’t you think?

Shelly at “This Eclectic Life” seems to think so, and she’s trying to spread this optimism virus through these here interwebs. And I’ve decided to join the cause.

So, starting today, every Friday here at Candid Karina will be “Only the Good Friday” and I will post only something good, something positive, something uplifting…something pleasant.

If you would like to join us in spreading the positive vibe, please visit Shelly’s blog and let her know you’re joining in.

It’s so easy to spread negativity throughout the world wide web…let’s focus on spreading the positive stuff instead.

Because I just decided to jump on this party wagon last minute, my good for today is going to be a series of random thoughts, tidbits, and information.

1. For some seriously uplifting posts, by a fabulous group of women who inspire and amaze me every day, take a moment and peruse Inspired Bliss (of which I happen to be a contributor), won’t you?

2. Like music? Like free music? Like free music legally? I discovered this website, Spiral Frog, a few weeks ago that lets you download music completely legally, due to some agreement or other they have with certain record labels. I’ll be honest, I’m not entirely sure how it all works, besides the fact that it has something to do with advertising revenue, but hey, it’s free. They don’t have “everything”, but poke around a bit and you’ll see that they’re selection is not bad at all.

3. Like to laugh? Do yourself a favor and click this link…watch this “skit” of Dennis Quaid on the Ellen DeGeneres show. I can’t post the actual video here for some reason, but trust me, you WANT to watch this. Probably the funniest bit I’ve ever seen on her show. I seriously laughed so much I nearly peed my pants. I know you didn’t need to know that, but seriously….go watch it: Ellen (there are two parts to the video, and it just gets funnier and funnier, so do yourself a favor and watch this one too: Ellen2. You will not regret it…

That’s it, that’s my good for today…Hope you enjoyed!

Super Fat Tuesday

Big day today across the U.S.A.

Super Tuesday, the day when a large number of states hold primary elections. I’ll let you click the link for more detailed information, but just know that a whole lot of people will be voting for their choice of candidate to run in the presidential election. Massachusetts is one of those states, so I started my morning off by voting as well.

Because this blog is a bit like my “safe happy place”, I make it a practice not to delve into certain topics here, not because I don’t have strong beliefs on them, but because certain things can just invite unpleasantness, and I don’t want that here. That’s not to say that as the presidential election progresses I won’t voice my opinions, but for now…I’m just going to tell you this:

Get out there and vote. Not only is it your right, it is your obligation as an American citizen to get out there and let your voice be heard.

And then, once you’ve cast your vote, party it up, because today also happens to be Fat Tuesday, also known as Mardis Gras. The day before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent, for those who observe it. Eat, drink and be merry, I guess.

Do you observe Lent? And if so, do you “give anything up”? What will you be giving up this year?

As a general rule, I don’t give anything up for Lent. Mostly because I already don’t drink soda, don’t drink alcohol all that often, don’t eat that much candy or desserts, don’t smoke, don’t do drugs…man, I sound like a goody two shoes. But basically, what I mean is, anything I could “give up” wouldn’t necessarily be a sacrifice for me, and certainly wouldn’t benefit anyone else.

So, for Lent I usually try to focus on the positive instead. Doing good deeds. I try to perform a selfless act everyday. This year, I’ve decided that with the aid of blogging, I’m going to REALLY focus on this goal. If I tell myself to blog about it, it’ll keep me in check, and I’ll make a conscious effort to perform good deeds. Big or small, I plan to spread a bit of goodwill in the coming weeks. Will you join me?