Anxiety Attack

Have you ever stopped to look at the world around you and wonder how we have become such an "anxious" nation?

I think about this a lot, especially when I am driving. Case in point, this past weekend. I was driving back from Cincinnati and began to wonder, as the car behind me was practically in my trunk, how this came to be true. After all, I do not remember people being so anxious and aggressive when I first started driving 16 years or so ago. And yes, while there was the occasional person who was just determined to get to their destination at all costs, be it their safety or yours, it did not seem as though EVERY person on the highway was like that.

I find it ironic that we create all of these gadgets and our technology has become so much more advanced to "make our lives simpler" yet we seem more stressed and more overwhelmed. We are always in a hurry to get from point A to point B and less likely to pay attention to the world that is passing right along side of us. We have become more progressive in many ways, but at the cost of our own patience. Is it a truly even trade off?

Now Available

~ Special congratulations to Kelly Meehean-Smith ~

Now available on CreateSpace:

VIEWFINDER TO THE SOUL
By Kelly Meehean-Smith
https://www.createspace.com/3388623

This title will be available on Amazon.com in the coming weeks.

Troubadour 21

Please take a moment to check out my interview with Carla Dodd of Troubadour 21.

http://www.troubadour21.com/2009/07/06/poet-chooses-spiritual-emotional-intellectual-tracks-to-follow/

Also, look for updates on this site regarding the release of Kelly Meehean-Smith's book, Viewfinder To The Soul. A freelance photographer and writer, Kelly combines visual techniques with poetry.



Thank you all for your continuous support!

Resting In Peace

I never thought I would see the day that I would write this post. And as many of you who have frequented this blog know that I am not exactly a fan of this individual, here I am, defending Michael Jackson.

For years we have watched the media pull the complexities of Michael Jackson's personality apart piece by piece. Many outlets taking false information and simply running with it regardless of the facts; many people took a young talent and turned him into a circus clown for their own profits; forever altering an already skewed psychology of this human being.

A human being. Have we forgotten that?

As I look at all of the images of Michael that we are currently bombarded with since his death, I see very few where the man looked genuinely happy. He never had a moment of peace from public scrutiny one way or the other. Can't we at least allow the man some peace now that he has passed?

A Little Problem With "Justice"

As many of you have read in the recent news or even from the poem on this site, the case of Nevaeh Buchanan has many of the residents of that area in shock. Many of whom are stating that the death penalty needs to be put back into place. And whether you are in favor of this or not, it had me thinking about what we as individuals consider just to be suitable justice to crimes that are committed everyday across this country.

Personally, I am not in favor of the death penalty. That is my choice, my opinion. I can respect the perspective of both sides of this view. I watched the affects of my Brother’s murder on my family for years and I do not see them as being any less painful if his killer were put to death. And part of me wonders why a murderer should be allowed to get off so easy as to die and NOT have to live with the thought of their crime every waking day of his/her life. Our family has to live with the loss every day, we do not get off so easily either. Maybe that is my own flaw in my thought process. Maybe I would not wish that the type of pain one feels when another is murdered on anyone, including the criminal’s family, who also get caught up in the mix of such a heinous crime.

What I see as the real issue here is with our justice system itself; partly the system’s fault and partly our own. In Michigan only, three state prisons and all five of the minimum security prison camps are scheduled to close this year in order to save the state some money. That does not include the possible State Police layoffs that may or may not be going into affect for the same reasoning. This will place hundreds of people on an already growing unemployment line as well. So the state saves money, but at what cost? After all, crime itself costs money. It costs money to those who are victims of it. It costs money to put police out in the community to catch criminals and then it costs additional funds to house a criminal in prison and provide them with legal aid. And why do we not do more to try and stop this sort of thing? They say that our state is actually doing better at rehabilitating the prisoners themselves, but if this is true, then how is it that our prison population has gotten so inflated in the first place? How is “justice” being served if the mentality is not being changed?

I have to wonder why certain budget cuts are concentrated on more than others. In this area, our schools close at a ridiculously rapid rate. Many individuals do not have the proper resources to maintain day to day living and then we scratch our heads and wonder why they then turn to crime as an alternative. Yet, budget cuts with regards to schools have not ceased and more and more people end up on the streets looking for desperate means to survive and end up in jail. Now on top of that equation, the public is being put at a greater risk because the overall security of the area is being threatened by prison budget cuts and no one tries to stop this? How is that justice?