I have been on the Internet for a very long time and I have commented on many, many posts. However you have to pick your battles. Not everyone on the web will agree 100% and there is real temptation to comment on something you don’t agree with but in this day and age but you do so at your own peril. Facebook is a minefield of articles and posts that can provoke one into an argument that can get nasty if you let it.
Fighting the good fight is a noble thing and its necessary at times. Ask yourself this, do you want to chime in on something where everyone else will come down on you for your opposing opinion. This is a lesson I have learned the hard way.
People who are always looking for a fight I think do so for attention or perhaps to poke a stick at those who they want to challenge. I am guilty of that but I am trying to get better at it. Words can heal and damage with the same force and we all have a choice to make on what we want to do with our words in the world.
Some things are worth the pain of provocation of a reply but others aren’t worth the keystrokes or the heartache.
Sometimes we say things we shouldn’t to important people. Perhaps there is a comment on a blog or Facebook we shouldn’t have posted. We all say things we don’t mean but are very sorry for. “Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid” is off the Big Bang Boom record by Hall and Oates from 1984.
A song, a lyric, a stanza can speak louder than a protest. Anthems and rhythm can resonate in such a way to move people to action. Sometimes a tune can change the world. We have music in our lives that speak to us in an intimate and profound way. You can say a lot in the notes and words that stick with you and come up from memory. We all need music to say what we can’t say on our own.
Music can be subversive, confrontational, inspirational, transformative and soul-stirring. Music can sound the call to war or it can rally people for peace. There is power in a song. The thing about music is that its timeless and generational at the same time. You hear your heart when you hear people singing from their hearts. It can be nonsense to one person but incredibly meaningful to another.
So whether its a record, a CD, an 8-Track a cassette, on your personal music player or live in person or from an instrument you play you are powerful.
When there is so much tragedy there comes a time when you become numb to it all. It’s just another event that unfortunately has changed the lives of people on both sides. One would think you would like to change the tone, change what is happening, change the future by changing the present. We allow things to happen because the changing part makes some uncomfortable and they don’t want to sacrifice anything. Yeah we all want life, liberty and happiness but what are we willing to give to get it. I hope one day people will stop killing other people for sport or because someone brainwashed them into doing it. Maybe change will come, maybe.
The world from my perspective has been serious today. With the tragedy in Nice, France to a national blood supply shortage to all the political games going on we are in a serious place globally and locally. This weekend is the one year anniversary of five servicemen dying here in Chattanooga by a local young man who became a terrorist (that is a word I am not fond of using but sometimes you have to).
I am a guy with a wacky sense of humor. My blog reflects that but sometimes you have to be serious. We have to focus on current events that are impacting our lives and sometimes that requires us being somber and sober about how we relate to the world.
As Jon Bon Jovi once sang we got to hold on to what we got and that is our loved ones and our friends. We have to come together to do great things that will make the bad stuff less loud. You do this by being creative, loving one another and sharing the light of your higher power. Be alive and laugh at the people who are making the world hard for us all. I am kind of tired of all the stuff going on. We need a break from it all. Hang in there good people. Stick together. We got this.
I am a supporter of law enforcement. Many of it’s rank and file do great things in the communities they serve. However good law enforcement begins with training, temperance and a little tolerance along the way. Too many people have lost their lives unnecessarily due to incidences that could have been prevented. Law enforcement should be there to serve and protect even those who they are apprehending. Some people do bad things and threaten community and they need to be brought to swift justice by whatever legal means necessary. It’s also up to community and government to work together so that people aren’t brought to a point of desperation to do bad things.
The senseless killings this week are a reminder that life in all its stages is important and valuable. We have seen the names flash upon our screens and devices. Those people did not deserve to die. We can pull the trigger of a gun and public opinion too quickly without having all the facts. Too many people are no longer with family and loved ones because of that. It needs to stop. People are important, everywhere.
The Tony Burgess Blog 