This is probably unfair of me

[rivka]

But what the hell, I'll post it anyway. I was surfing the Random LJ link, and came across this entry:

Why isn't anything happening? [13 Sep 2001|08:03pm]
[ mood | aggravated ]
[ music | Azn Dreamers - Keep the Flame Alive ]

Well my life this week has been completely and utterly boring...the only thing that really makes me happy is cheerleading and that was canceled because of this whole terrorist thing...i wish it would just end already...neways...i have had no homework to stress over which is a good thing i guess...no tests...no boy problems...no friend problems so i guess life is good...but sometimes i wish that i had some sort of excitement in my life right...i mean the best part of my week is when i get to hang out with my friends or talk to the ones i don't see very often...when i don't have anything important to think about...i start to think about things i shouldn't be worrying about at this time...like when i move...am i going to be the same person...will i have a lot of friends...or what i mostly care about...will i have fun? I want to leave, yet i don't...occording to my mother i have it so good in my life right now and the things that i want will come eventually...but when is what i want to know...moving would mess it all up..but it just leads to a fresh start with new opportunities...well this whole entry is based on the fact that i have too much time to think and i starting to scare myself anyway gtg...later!

Well, I guess a terrorist attack that leaves more than 6,000 dead and launches the nation toward war is a bad thing, if it means that cheerleading is cancelled.

No, I know. I know that the world would not be a better place if we all put on sackcloth and ashes and did nothing but mourn the dead and worry about the future. But it's weird to follow random journals and see the shock and horror of 9/11 so quickly replaced by crushes and homework and standard teenage angst.

I've been telling friends and clients: it's okay to return to your normal activities. It's okay to enjoy things. It's okay to stop following every minute of horrifying coverage. You don't owe it to the dead to remain in suspended animation, focused on nothing but the tragedy.

I guess I don't quite believe myself.

Comments

[jenett]

I think there's a substantial difference between "Go on with your life, mindful of the changes in the world" and "Be annoyed because other people are still focused on a major national event, and you're bored because the world isn't conforming to your desires because of this other stuff."

I don't have a whole lot of patience with "I'm bored, but I don't want to do anything about it" attitude *anyway*, though. (Bored and admitting you're not fixing the problem because you feel lazy, ok. Doing stuff other people find boring but that interests you, fine. Whinging about it because no one's amusing you, not so fine.)

I've been sort of feeling the same thing about this "go on with life" "be mindful" dichotomy, watching the high school kids cope. (It has seemed to produce them being more considerate of at least the library staff, oddly...)

Mostly, I've come to the conclusion that there's a difference between *ignoring* what happened and the relevant consequences, and saying "Yes, it happened, it's going to keep affecting reality, but there's other stuff out there too, and I want to keep balance."

For me, that's been listening to the radio driving home from work, and then coming in and turning on Sabrina or the Simpsons, as a way to remind me that silliness matters as much as solemnity, in the grand orchestration of the world.

But maybe I don't have such a high tolerance for people who only find a small number of things interesting/non-boring, and so my solutions won't work for everyone. (I mean, I know I'm far out on the polymath and polymath-wannabe side of the spectrum, but I didn't think the other side was quite that singleminded about what amused them as it sometimes looks like.)