Fandango’s Flashback Friday: April 9
Wouldn’t you like to expose your newer readers to some of your earlier posts that they might never have seen? Or remind your long term followers of posts that they might not remember? Each Friday I will publish a post I wrote on this exact date in a previous year. How about you? Why don’t you reach back into your own archives and highlight a post that you wrote on this very date in a previous year?
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This post was published April 9, 2019 as an entry to a Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge. A year later – at the beginning of the pandemic – I was back to watching the nightly news. It was my only connection in real time to what was going on. And that what was literally a matter of life and death around the world. The horror of what unfolded – and I won’t summarize here as I (and probably many of you) don’t need to revisit those images. Now, in 2021, I still watch the news and maintain the hope that I will begin to see less negative and more positive. That has not happened although vaccination sites and listings of how many people got “shots in arms” is often the lead story. I’ll take that as a positive, although there is a still a long way to go. One thing hasn’t changed…I am still looking for kindness to get more than 2 minutes at the end of a broadcast.
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Path
If you stop to be kind you must swerve often from your path.
Mary Webb
I have stopped watching the nightly news. Which is totally unlike me. Usually wanting to know…What Is Going On. The importance of being informed and up-to-date was always at the top of my list. Part of being a responsible citizen.
It seems to me there used to be more balance. The good and the evil. The positive and the negative. Now all I do is wince. Our leaders fighting. Shouting. Accusing. Deaf to the voices of reason…or fairness…or empathy. Especially empathy. Unwilling to even pause and consider a different path.
Nightly Breaking News punches story after story. Announcements line up in 10 second sound bites. Assault…Abuse…Cheating…Lying…. Young child missing…young child found in a shallow grave. Inconsolable parent. Another shooting. Blurry security camera video. One more senseless loss of a sister, a brother.
The news anchor drones on, his face barely changing expression. Night after night.
Rarely would I see kindness…until the final 2 minutes of the broadcast. Showcasing an act of generosity. Compassion. Selflessness.
Good to know there are people still out there…
On a different path.
They deserve more than two minutes of air time.
one letter UP ~ diary 2.0 
There is no such thing as Balanced news today, it’s either fake or it’s all liberalised. I stopped watching any news long ago. The path looks so inviting, let’s take a walk!
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This path is just what is needed to get away from it all. Whatever the news is.
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Perfect. 😎
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I would love to walk on a trail like that. I agree about kindness. When I retired and moved here I had one goal. I just wanted to be nice to people. I didn’t want to argue grades or philosophy or compete. I just wanted to be here and be nice to people. Mostly I’ve managed that but I’ve been stunned to learn that kindness often makes people suspicious, which is very sad. The other thing is that it gives some people the idea that a person is a pushover or doesn’t understand what’s going on — neither of which are true of me, anyway. We seem to have built inside us a defensive and competitive and paranoid edge which has certainly been nurtured since, I would say, 2001.
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It is odd, isn’t it, how kindness is not trusted (at least in some instances and I have experienced that too). Your link to 2001 makes a lot of sense. Our world changed and everyone who may have looked a bit different – or whatever – was suspected of being a “bad guy.” It wove into the cultural vibe somehow. I have been living in a condo community for a few years and have been on the board of directors now for a few months. Besides being like a full time job…what an eye opener about human nature and the need for kindness. But that’s a whole other story. This path leads to a trail which is so peaceful. I am grateful it is there – a few steps beyond my building. I can escape with tunes via earbuds too. 😊
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Beautiful image and thought. Yes, we need to do what it takes and ingest our content wisely. Your tree is just the kind of uplifting image I appreciate right now. Thank you!
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Thank you – and yes, I agree, positive and uplifting messages are the most appreciated. I love walking in the woods to relax, especially these days.
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I agree. The breaking news is BAD! They spend too much time to report these bad news.
Peaceful image. 🙂
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Thank you. Maybe that’s why they call it “breaking!” – but I do wish they spent more time on the good news.
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