Sensory Overload……

What a stark difference I experienced this morning. One moment I was in a quiet and serene forest setting and the next I am thrust into the chaotic maelstrom that was the doctor’s office waiting room. The TV was blaring on some god awful 24 hour news network. Cell phones were ringing and being answered by patrons. Throngs of people were coughing and talking. I felt as if I were about to jump out of my skin. I had to wait a good hour in this terrible mess and almost got in my car and drove home. It was that disturbing. I am just glad that ordeal is over and done with. My shot was almost painless today so that was the one good thing about today’s experience.

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I feel a certain frustration with blogging lately. I find that I am overly lazy as a writer. I read some wonderfully written blogs such as this one and it inspires me to be a better writer. Far too often I just find myself rambling about my daily life. It just so easy to do and feels natural to me. What could I write about that would make this blog more interesting?

Politics? No, I hate politics and find the subject trite and boring. I only read one political blog and it is written by a voluntary homeless man in Tampa. Much of what he writes bores me to tears but I feel I have a vested interest in his well being and read mainly to keep up with him. Elections, in my opinion, are just a popularity contest with the majority of politicians being under qualified for the job.

Religion? What is there to write about a lack of belief in something? I simply do not believe in mythological grand beings that are controlling the direction of my life. I never found Jesus because I never lost him in the first place. Many blogs I stop by talk a lot about what God is doing in their lives and their relationship with some long dead carpenter’s son. It makes me cringe to read such silly things.

Homelessness? Been there and done that. I got the plaque on my wall to prove it. One homeless blogger writes that there is more to homeless people than being homeless but that is almost all he ever talks about, homelessness. I am very interested in sustainable and comfortable homelessness thus my experiments in camping and hiking. There are some great blogs popping up with more able authors than I that are writing about this. This is forcing some people to reevaluate how they live and their stigmas about homelessness. I applaud their efforts and their novel ideas.

Mental illness? I hate to come across as whiney and a hypochondriac. I simply look at mental illness as an imbalance in my brain chemistry; a chronic ailment no different than diabetes. I have to take medicine the same as a diabetic takes insulin. I wish more people held this view. There are still many stigmas associated with mental illness and I guess I could do more to help dissolve them. The fact is that most people in my real life don’t know I have a mental illness. I hide it and do not talk about it. It is kind of odd that I talk about it openly on a website visited by strangers don’t you think? It is also very hard to put the experience to words. You have to experience it first hand.

Popular Culture? Nope, I do not even participate in popular culture. I rarely even watch the TV and avoid the news. I can’t remember the last time I watched a movie. I mainly watch one television show a few times a week and I download it off of the internet as it doesn’t have commercials. I used to be militantly anti-TV but realized it was a waste of my time. People are going to waste their lives sitting in front of a glowing box no matter what I say or do. I still do occasionally watch Nova and Frontline but lately Frontline has been aggravating me because all they show are episodes about the Iraqi war.

To be continued……..