Nocturne in Grey and Gold: Chelsea Snow
James Abbott McNeill Whistler1876
Summer evening at Skagen
Peder Severin Krøyer1892
Today the WP prompt asked us to Describe a positive thing a family member has done for you.
Hay making Jules Bastien-Lepage 1877 View in Augmented
Today is not the day to ask me to play happy clappy let’s send out positive vibes via a writing prompt.
I will tell you right now, I am NOT in the mood.
I write about dark souls, twisted hearts and monsters. I write about wicked people doing wicked things and my goal is to make you laugh in the end. Sometimes I do write things that are a little fuzzy and sunny and warm because I happen to FEEL LIKE IT.
One thing I never do- I don’t pussy foot around when I write. I don’t lie to myself and I don’t lie to the people who happen upon my blog and read what I write. If I am feeling dark and mischievous that is exactly what you’re going to get from me as a writer. I’m not organized in my thinking enough to write ‘by the numbers’.
Today’s prompt irked me because it smacks of ” Let’s keep it happy ” and let’s make sure this prompt stays that way. Fine. Challenge accepted.
This is a positive thing that someone in my family taught me-
if someone puts their hand on the back of your neck, even if it’s a friendly hand and tells you how to think or what to write and even feels like they can tell you when to smile – snap their hand off at the wrist.
There. That’s something positive that my family member taught me because in that bit of advice I get to stay true to myself. How is that for a positive?
amm
I asked Google Arts and Culture to show me ” Nothing “
It did as I asked and it showed me ” Nothing “
I now have these images of ” Nothing ” stuck in my mind and today I have learned that ‘ nothing ‘ isn’t a place, it isn’t a state of mind. It’s an idea waiting for someone to pick it up and give it color and form and a life.
amm
” Monk By The Sea “
Caspar David Friedrich
Pas Mèche [Nothing Doing]
Jules Bastien-Lepage
“Füsun’s Tears” Artist Unknown
RDP Tuesday: NOTHING
RDP FRIDAY: XENOPHOBIA
I have been in several discussions about Xenophobia or racism in the real and not on-line world ( which is a pretty safe place to express yourself ) and when the excuses start, in my head I can hear Hannibal Lecter saying:
“You fly back to school now, little Starling. Fly, fly, fly…”
It feels like I have heard every single excuse- with an emphasis on the word excuse for xenophobia. I think that’s because there aren’t a lot of them and if it works it works and people will repeat it.
In my experience the one I hear most often is, ” it’s such a big problem it can’t be solved overnight ” closely followed by, ” xenophobia exists all over the world.”
I think people use those lines because at some level they care about their fellow human beings but you know- this isn’t really ‘their’ problem to solve because they are good, decent and they don’t put these negative vibes out into the Universe. So I suppose that means there is ‘nothing they have to do. ‘ But remember- they are good people. So don’t get mad at them for taking those positions.
Alrighty then.
The picture to the right is of Emmett Till. He was tortured and lynched in Mississippi in 1955. After he was dead, his murderers threw his body into the Tallahatchie River. The picture to the left was taken in 2019 and it is a picture of three white students from the University of Mississippi . This photo shows two of the men standing with guns in front of a historical marker at the location where Till’s body was pulled from the Tallahatchie River.
Here is my advice on dealing with xenophobia- I think it would be best if people quit making excuses for why they don’t want to deal with xenophobia because for as long as they do people will keep on driving to Emmit Till’s memorial to in order to vandalize it . They will continue to go to libraries where there are books that make them feel “bad” in efforts to ban materials that make them feel ‘uncomfortable’.
You want to help with this big problem ? Quit making excuses for why nothing can be done. Stop saying it’s not your problem.
That would be a good start.