A Common Sense Rant

2012 has not been an easy year for most people I know. Several friends of mine are divorcing, others have lost their homes or their jobs. Personally I've known over a dozen people who passed away since January alone. There have been debilitating illnesses, businesses lost, and dreams shattered. It doesn't matter what political affiliation you align yourself with, times have been tough, but they've also been tough a lot longer than most people will admit to.

But here's a secret that some people don't want to admit to: Things are getting better. And why are things getting better? Because they always do. History is cyclical. It may ebb and flow, but life always goes on. We've had it too easy for too long, and what's worse is we can't even appreciate that fact. Not only do we take our wonderful lives for granted, but the moment we face trouble, and I mean real, tangible trouble, we become whiny, spoiled children.

It's easy to blame others and use scapegoats to make ourselves feel better. It's comforting to blame the weak, the different, or the unknown. No one wants to admit they made a mistake last week or last month or last year that actually have repercussions today. That's Human Nature. But sometimes you have to shut the fuck up and take the hit. Sometimes it is your fault, and that's when its time to stop making excuses and clean up the dirty, ugly mess by getting on your knees and using some damn, simple elbow grease.

I'm frustrated. I'm angry. I'm tired of hearing the blame. I'm tired of hearing the excuses. You are selfish. We all are. More often than not we do what feels good instead of what is right. We choose the comfortable or flashy path instead of the tougher, complicated, healthier one. It happens. All the time. And that's fine, no one is perfect. But none of us are going to make things better by living in fear, hatred, or ignorance. Life isn't always fun and it certainly isn't fair; Life is just a series of random events that you navigate the best way you can. There are no easy answers here, but there are simple ones:

Do what needs to be done, not because someone is watching or forcing you; do it because its what needs to be done. Don't expect a trophy or your own reality show for doing the bare minimum; don't expect applause or even a chuck on the shoulder. Don't wait for someone else to come along, do it because you're the one who got there first.

Times are hard and they will be for a while. But the hard times won't last forever; they never do. Tomorrow the sun will still shine, children will still play, and we'll all be alright. Have a little faith. Have a little confidence. Have a little hope.

Now let's all get to work.

The Good Old Days

(Sarah, 2010)

I've been awfully nostalgic lately. Times are tough right now, just about everyone can attest to that, but then again, if we're really honest with ourselves, things have always been tough in one way or another. I've always believed that being blind to the great complications of life, engaging in that innocence and naiveté so many people own day-to-day, is, of course, a much easier place to inhabit, but is that really where we want to be?

The realities of life have never been fair or easy, and though the recent economic crisis has hit most of the world fairly hard, I don't ever recall a time when people were consistently, fundamentally happy with everything. In especially the United States' highly politicized fear-mongering climate, it is far easier to sugarcoat the past and be fearful of the future. Hindsight is always 20-20, and when I sift through the twenty-four hour news cycle I am often shocked by the warm, glowing terms with which the past is discussed. Oddly, many of the loudest voices of fear and anger are the same people who vilified and demonized that same time period in the past as it was occurring.

The most common example cited: the 1950s. That period after World War II is often touted as a utopian age, when children in nuclear families grew up in happy homes occupied by a working father, a stay-at-home mother, and zero complications. None of the talking heads on television now will ever reference the open racism, back-alley abortions, or anti-Communist jingoism that alienated and, more often than not, caused great physical and philosophical harm to our society as a whole. Interestingly enough, not many people realize the word "utopia" derives from the Greek language, literally translated as "not a place," as in "somewhere that does not exist." Today, many politicians use the 1950s as a benchmark of what we need to get back to, yet they recite the same phrases that politicians have used for millennia. There are quotes from two thousand years ago of Roman senators decrying a need for their culture to get back to the ideals of "financial responsibility" and "family values." It appears the we as a species haven't evolved that much since the time of ancient conquests and the bacchanalia.

I believe all of this comes from a lack of perspective. The old lyric "you don't know what you've got till it's gone" pretty much sums up major aspects of human nature. In my case, I'm not nostalgic for the past, I'm nostalgic for the present. My own life is full of uncertainty, be it professional, personal, financial, and even spiritual. I can't say what is going to happen tomorrow, but I do know that I will eventually look back on these days and think fondly of the good moments, ignore the tough times, and wish I could be back where I currently am. The problems I am dealing with today, the stress and pressures, will have all been resolved and forgotten in a week or a month. It won't matter what rude e-mail I got, what driver cut me off, or what deadlines have been forced upon me. All I'll recall is the smiles on my nieces' faces, my nephew's first words, and all the crazy, silly situations I put myself in through my photography. Everything else is a waste of time and energy, and though that is a belief easier declared than practiced, we all need to be reminded that it is actually true.

The answer is simple: the reason we are all nostalgic for the past is because we know how it ended up. The Cuban Missile Crisis: resolved. The war in Vietnam: over. The turbulent 6Os: forgotten in a drug-addled haze. As a society, we're still here fighting and fucking and having backyard barbecues, just like we've always had. In the grand scheme of things, human life is "business as usual." I'm sorry to remind you, but there will always be uncertainty. Sure, life is not a video game, you don't get a second chance, but just try to appreciate life for what it is, not for what you'd like it to be. Do your best, take some risks, and get some sleep. Tomorrow is a new and unexpected day.