One Day at a Time on the Third Rock from the Sun

Most mornings, I rise to the sunlight happy to greet the day and ready for whatever comes my way. And most days, what comes my way is pretty good stuff. I have healthy kids, except for the one with chicken pox. I'm a healthy specimen of womanhood, except for the killer head-cold from hell. And life has been kind to me. I've been well blessed.

But some days, those moods catch up and the lows hang on. Life gets the best of you at dawn and you're not good for anything other than maybe sunset. This week has been that day.

This Charger-Mom lives in a trailer house about 6 months out of the year, most years. And this is one of those months. I have a strong "writer support network" and we email each other on a daily basis, for support, encouragement, and inspiration. Earlier this week, I started an email to the group and realized about half way into my tangent that I was on a real tare and stopped. I deleted the post and wrote instead,

"Perhaps I should return to bed and get up on the other side (the fact that I must go through a wall to get up won't matter much - in this mood, it probably won't even slow me down)."

Several have commented back, "I understand that thought." or "Gee what are you like on a bad day?" or "Let me know when it's safe, I'll come help rebuild the wall." and my very favorite, "Put the coffee on, I'll come rant with you."

The reality is, sometimes in these days of stress and strife, the frustration and stress build up and it has to go somewhere. As writers, we have the option of killing someone in a story (y'know you've done it), or blowing up a building, or writing a terrorist event in a screen play. Nobody really gets hurt. But what happens to those poor saps who aren't writers, who have those same feelings, how can they let out their rantings safely?

I'd suggest we get them all a journal to write in and the whole world ought to have a favorite pen. Perhaps everybody ought to have a blog. They don't have to be public. You can write a private blog if you like.

Better yet, write poetry and submit it to Poetry.com they'll publish your work and sell it back to you for mega big bucks! You won't make any money, but you'll be published.

Community Service - Remember Quality

Do you remember when you could play baseball in the street and the worst thing that could happen was a fly ball hitting Mr. Brumgarter's picture window? This week, I listened to a group of officers talk to young kids about how to be safe in their community, and they recommended they have an adult with them at all times when playing out in the community.

I'm appalled that our children must constantly worry about having an adult with them to be safe.

Whatever happened to being safe outside your own locked doors? Isn't there any place our children can play and feel safe?

At the end of my street, there's a park where my kids (now all teens and above) often go to play ball and hang out. The local police department has issued a warning that all kids should hang out in groups of two or more, to be safe. So, my boys take groups of friends to the ball field or park at the end of the street. Do I feel they're safe?

Yes, because the first house beside the park belongs to friends of mine who would not only call the police but most likely would take care of any problems before the police arrived. I feel confident enough of this that I personally have no problem walking to the park alone, even at night, sometimes. It's a nice walk from my house, and I enjoy the night air.

Recently, our police department has changed. Almost every officer is new in town, with few exceptions. What formerly was a tight knit group of people who were loved by the community, and well known in the community, is now a group of strangers not recognized. The difference is community distrust. Not only do the police officers distrust the community, but the community doesn't trust law enforcement.

Living in fear of my local community services isn't my idea of a quality life. I want more. I require more. And, I'm determined to have more. As a citizen in this community, I'm definitely focused on bringing back the safety and security, not to mention FREEDOM that I felt in my community as a child. I want my life back. How about you?

Quality of life means we're willing to Take Charge!