life

Too Much Darkness

Lori

Media pushes buttons
Setting tempers ablaze
To remain neutral and kind
Is hard these days

Where are we as a people
Do we really know
Do we want to hurt each other
Or is the vitriol just a show

Am I living in a movie
Where society has gone wrong
Please tell me we’re being fooled
that humans are really caring and strong

by L. Virelli

I recently discovered Twitter. Yeah, I know, I’m late to the party. But boy, I thought Facebook was bad with the vitriol. I found Twitter even worse!

I’ve had a Twitter account for years, and I make brief checks there a couple of times a month. I spend most of my social media time on my blog first, Facebook second. I’ve been blogging for six years (wow, really? Sheesh) and have only received one snarky comment, which wasn’t even really that bad. That’s why I like to stick with this form of social media. I’m losing faith in humanity, and my blogger friends give me some semblance of hope.

I’m an open person, but I try to keep my blog away from the social issues going on in our world. Sometimes I touch on something for philosophical purposes, but I don’t dive deep into controversial subjects. I’m going to let you in on something I wouldn’t normally discuss here, about why I started spending more time on Twitter. I hope you don’t mind me touching on something a bit controversial. I don’t do this often, so thank you for your support.

Here it is; the explanation about the shooting in Las Vegas did not sit right with me. Since the moment I woke in the morning and put on the news to hear about it, something felt off about what we were being told. To this day, 5 weeks later, I cannot put it out of my mind. Where is the media? How do we know about the entire lives of two killers (NY & TX) in their 20’s, but next to nothing about a man who lived for 64 years?

I searched the internet about the Las Vegas shooting, and Twitter was the best place to find the information I was looking for. I found lots that most people would rather not know, but in the process, I also found a lot of haters.

My husband is tired of me searching for information and talking about it. He sees it taking a toll on me. From the haters on Twitter, to filtering out the crazy conspiracies, to listening to the survivors talk about being chased by gunfire that got closer as they ran away from Mandalay Bay. I have nightmares. I’m losing faith in humanity. The world seems dark. One semblance of light is in some of the survivors stories about how everyone was helping each other to get away.

I don’t understand why my heart calls me to focus on this tragedy. I cry for the families who have lost someone. I ache with longing to help the emotionally scarred survivors who experienced the horrific scene(s). This is not meant as a political post. I’m just heartbroken for others, and the average person is not aware of what is really going on.

I pray every day to know what it is I’m supposed to do with this information and what I can do to help.

I’ve written a follow-up to this post at, Lessons from the Leaves and a few Friends.

Have you ever felt strongly pulled toward something and didn’t know why?

 

 

Published by Lori

Observer, thinker, learner, analyzer, and author. Love dogs. Enjoy cooking, laughing and spiritual centering.

34 thoughts on “Too Much Darkness”

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  3. I can understand your feelings only to well, Lori, and find myself often despairing too. I know it’s important not to loose faith in humanity but sometimes it’s difficult. I don’t use Twitter – yet – and fb only very reluctantly. Like you said, it’s with blogging that I find the kindest people not the other social media.
    Wish you a wonderful weekend! 😄

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hi Sarah. Yes, blogging is the one medium where I feel safe . . . at least so far, and it’s been six years. I had been searching for answers on twitter, which took me into some dark places there. I don’t think it’s quite as bad if one stays away from those places and sticks with friends. Thank you for reading this and sharing your thoughts.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Wow! Six years of blogging! You must be so proud of yourself! I have only 2 and would never have believed it possible when I started. And I can’t stop feeling so grateful for my WordPress family here – blogging seems to be the one place online that’s not scary, where people of different backgrounds can come together and share their minds and hearts. So very very different if what seems to go on in all the other social media where everything is centered on the ever growing egos of people.

        Liked by 1 person

  6. Facebook and Twitter are filled with so much vitriol and hatefulness and knee jerk reactions and just misinformation… especially where politics or anything where any kind of emotions are heightened.

    I’ve unfollowed many pages who post political or controversial stuff on Facebook (don’t use twitter) because it was just so taxing and stress inducing. It made legitimately hate complete strangers. That’s not healthy.

    Now my FB feed is filled with cats, recipes, and babies lol.

    The only place I get news now is Reddit — how ironic that a website whose users are mostly anonymous have more compassion and understanding.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. I am not familiar with Reddit, although I’ve heard of it. There are so many social media outlets I can’t keep up. Thank you for sharing your experiences with social media, Carolanne.

      Liked by 1 person

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  8. I avoid Facebook and don’t spend a lot of time on twitter. They are depressing and hateful and the world still has so much hope in it despite all the ugliness. Someone said to me recently that I should use my energy to speak up for and support what’s good instead of to argue against what’s wrong. Speaking and acting for love, peace, the needs of children, the opportunities that people need to live healthy lives… these are worth our efforts, and each time we do, we add our ripples to the ripples of others. Together our little ripples become waves ❤

    Liked by 4 people

    1. Hi DWP. What happened was that I was digging for information on the recent tragic events and ran into the wrong crowds on social media. It darkened my world for a bit, but a new post coming tomorrow about the hope I received from commenters like yourself. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

      Liked by 2 people

  9. Lori, I am with you on several points. I find it very interesting that there is absolutely no news about the investigation into the Las Vegas shooting. I think there is so much more than what they have told us. And did the tourist commission of Las Vegas (or whatever they call themselves) pay someone off, so all the news about the shooting would die down and people would forget and return to the strip? As far as Twitter and all those other social media sites, I don’t understand them, and most of the stuff on them seems like fluff, nothing of substance. Maybe I just haven’t given them a chance. But don’t despair – there are still good people out there. They just don’t make the news, because the media thinks we only want to hear about dark and depressing news, and the Kardashians.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I have found a lot of info on the LV shooting, but I don’t recommend people find this stuff unless they have a strong constitution. It’s difficult to wrap one’s head around and to discern.

      Thanks for the encouragement. I’m posting again tomorrow about learning to let go.

      Liked by 2 people

  10. The news at the moment is so depressing, negative, traumatic. I tend to read The Times or the BBC – that way I control what I see and when. Twitter I only use for fun social time, connecting with others about books, art, music and life in general. Don’t lose heart in humanity, Lori! What lifts my spirits is witnessing the normal life -seeing the kindness of everyday people, working hard, trying to make a difference. That is the way forward, I feel. hugs ❤️

    Liked by 2 people

  11. Perhaps this need to find out the truth is what you feel you must do in the absence of being able to do anything to prevent what happened or it to happen again. I have a Twitter account too but I never use it – I think it’s too quick for me whereas with blogging you can take your time…

    Liked by 4 people

    1. You hit the nail on the head, Andrea. You must be psychic, Andrea, because I just finished a draft post saying this same thing. Thank you for the supportive and validating comment.

      Liked by 2 people

    1. Hi Carrie. Since I was searching for answers (about Vegas), I landed in the deepest, darkest catacombs of twitter. I wouldn’t recommend anyone go there alone. 😉 Glad you stay away from getting weighted down.

      Liked by 2 people

  13. “I hope you don’t mind me touching on something a bit controversial. I don’t do this often, so thank you for your support.”
    I, too, tend to stay away from the controversial subjects, at least on-line…it gets complicated. But you handled your need to share in a good way – both for yourself and those of us readers.
    Take care (sorry, I have no wisdom to pass on – I’m kinda wrung out about it, too)

    Liked by 3 people

    1. After posting this, I’m learning that most people are wrung out about these awful events. We’re actually more unified than we think. Thank you for the kind words about this post, Laura.

      Liked by 1 person

  14. Good advice from commenters here. I had to make myself stop looking at the news of the recent shootings. It’s so easy to get swallowed up in the darkness. And social media is full of it sometimes. But not totally. Here we are on this blog together, encouraging one another.

    Liked by 4 people

  15. There’s still good in this world, Lori. It’s just hard to see sometimes when the media continues to plaster these animal’s photographs all over the news and social media. After 9/11, I made myself physically ill watching non-stop coverage. Now, I turn off the TV, unplug and pray for the victims, their families and our society.

    Liked by 5 people

  16. The world is a mess and we have little control over the bigger picture. I try to do good in small ways in my small circle and hope that if others do the same, that circle of good deeds will widen and eventually spread over the world. So far, I feel like a small insect trying to take on the world, but I keep trying in my small way. At the same time, I try not to pile all the burdens of the world onto my back. You can’t fight the whole war yourself, Lori, but you can win tiny battles.

    Liked by 6 people

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