WELCOME!

GNAW TRAVEL

Welcome to The Book Buffet

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WELCOME!

WELCOME to the Book Buffet

NUTRITIONAL CONSULTANTS

We are glad you’ve joined us. It’s always great to find another friend who enjoys coffee, chocolate and books. And other stuff, too.

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You Do You

So, I don’t know about you, but I get these two messages lately from Media (by Media, I mean all of it: mainstream outlets, social media, newspapers, magazine articles, every bit).

Message 1: You have to do what’s right for you. You have the right to be your own self. Don’t let anyone tell you what to do or what to believe or how to behave. You are your own self. Own yourself. Go out there and make your life. Live it! Live it hard! Just do it! (Oh wait, that’s a shoe slogan.)

Message 2: While you’re living your wonderful life, you have to do it My Way. By My Way, I don’t mean singing the Frank Sinatra song and doing it Your Way, I mean doing it My Way My Way and here are the rules for that. Then they go on to tell you what you have to ascribe to – their political philosophy or their religious or anti-religious mindset, behaviors and thoughts they brand as wrong or phobic or liberal or conservative or some other tag meant to shame you into complying with their agenda.

It might make sense if these two opposing messages came from two opposing camps vying for your vote or dollar. However, I frequently get an email one day with message #1 from someone and the very next day some version of message #2 from the same person, spinning out their take on some issue or other.

So . . . I can’t really be my own person, then, can I? Only within your parameters of behavior am I allowed to be myself. If we tried to have a convo with these people, they would be quick to argue, indicating they are wearing, not just blinders, but coverings over their ears as well.

Many of these people hated the rules, the constructs by which their parents lived. Their lists are 180 degrees different. Yet they do have lists! They talk “freedom of belief”, but when someone wants to believe something other than their list, suddenly that person is evil or uneducated or any number of quotable adjectives. The Media loves these encounters and blasts them out since that is easier than actually pounding the pavement and doing the hard work of real journalism.

Personally I am weary of a Media world where everyone seems to just attack each other. Why can’t people with opposing viewpoints still be friends? I have friends who vote differently from me. I have friends who have no faith affiliation while my faith is the center of my being. I have friends of color while I am pasty white. I have friends who are well off financially and friends getting food “stamps”. I have guy friends and girl friends. Perhaps it’s the Media itself that is the enemy. When you sit down to coffee with someone, it’s hard to hate. You may disagree, but you also find things about which to laugh together, areas in which you are surprisingly empathetic with each other. There is a reason those worldwide peace accords occur face-to-face.

I have a group who meets at my house every Wednesday evening. Outside around a little fire has been the go-to model during COVID and Zooming during the rain and cold. But we keep at it and little by little we’ve learned to care about each other. Honestly, we don’t have a lot in common. Two are marathon runners while one guy has had a stroke and running a marathon would kill him. Some are married, most are single. One is gluten free. A couple are avid readers, but the rest haven’t touched any books since high school or college (I know, sad). In spite of our differences, we’ve become a family. We care and share, offer help, both prayers and practical support. Mostly, we are just there for each other.

If you are as frustrated as I am by the hate-mongering, perhaps your best bet is to put down the mouse and pick up the phone. No, not the scroll-through-my-feed version of the phone, but the actually-punching-buttons-and-calling-someone phone. Check in, see what they are up to (or maybe down and need cheering up). As soon as you can, meet that friend for lunch. Warmer weather should enable us all to dine outside, even with COVID constraints in place. We had a (different) group from our neighborhood over for bring your own wine and appetizers last week. Just sitting around and catching up, even fussing together about how sick and tired we all are of COVID helped. It was so good to see each other again. None of us had an agenda. No one was preaching or selling anything or running for public office. We were “just friends” who cared.

Maybe that’s what everyone needs right now. A little less messaging. A little more caring. I hope you have people you can do that with soon.

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Jacqueline reads, writes and brews lots of coffee in Cumming, GA. She would love to hear from you!

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