Day: June 22, 2016

I hate taking medicine. I despise the notion that everything I need to be a perfectly healthy specimen isn’t inside of me already. Likewise, when I get depressed or run down or just out of ideas I hate actually doing work outside of my own writing. The correlation struck me today. I recognize at once that reading and working with other writers is quite a bit like taking medicine. I draw courage and inspiration from other writers. I draw motivation from people busting their humps to get stuff done. It is, in a sense, the very medicine needed to get my butt in a chair and writing.

I’ve spent most of this morning digging through digital piles of student writing. I’m making notes on all of these stories and trying to remind writers of the core goals of story and how to really shape their work in a more effective/appealing way. As I make notes I find myself more compelled and motivated to sit down and write. Helping them craft their message heals the part of me that has for so long been unable to craft my own.

This doesn’t directly apply to essays, of course. I don’t give interesting enough assignments to be inspired by what comes back to me. That too ought to change over the course of the next semester. I feel like I get no benefit from reading an essay about something neither I nor the writer actually cares about.

Finding this bit of energy about writing feels fantastic. I wish I could figure out a similar formula for physical activity.

Here is what I believe: Islamic terrorism is not being carried out by true believers. It is being carried out by soldiers. These soldiers are in the service of a hostile regime that thrives on the controversy it creates. Sure, they base a lot of what they believe on their interpretation of the bible, but news flash, so do we as ‘One nation under God’. We don’t have a real grasp on what these forces want other than chaos, wealth, and attention. In truth, we have reshaped the military-indsustrial complex around these types of conflicts and gone ‘all in’ on the fictional side of things by making sure our miltary-esque games and movies pay lipservice to the idea of ideologues and extremists as the new bad guy.

I’m tired of Islam being the boogie man. I respect that our current administration is focused on eradicating the organizations and not the religion itself. The shameful interpretation of the religion is highly reflective of the socio-economic state of the people carrying out these attacks. Moreover, you can see the same scenario in Chicago where young men are killing each other on live Facebook streams (Twice now? Seriously?) because they have so little that it is simple for them to fall under the influence of gangs. They use their colors as an excuse to eradicate anything that is a threat to that brand, these leaders use the Qu’ran as an excuse to maintain their power structure.

The Orlando nightclub shooter was a lone wolf attacker. He did what he did for his own reasons–and those are far more complex than, I love ISIL. He was not funded by nor a member of a terrorist organization. He is no more a member of the group than I am a NY Giant, though I totally rep that set as he ‘repped his set’ in the name of his set. Only, they were not really his set. They are and will remain an easily reachable excuse to act a public fool.

Some Thoughts:

1. I gained back six of the eight pounds I lost on that health trial. Want to guess what I learned? Moderation is effective, but awareness is far more effective.