A while back I tested out a sort of journal blog/podcast that I called Simmons Says. It was my way of doing a daily, or every other daily, expressing of my thoughts or questions about life, art family, or whatever.
But I found journaling, at the same time I was writing fiction or doing other writing jobs, became second or third priority, and eventually I gave it up.
And though I enjoy the Tell The Damn Story podcast series I’m doing with my friend Chris Ryan (we’re up to episode 103), I find there are times when I have a thought that I want to share that is not necessarily Chris’s or anyone else’s.
So I decided to resurrect the old S.S Mindship periodically and plop it here.
Yesterday I posted a question in my Instagram Story. It was based on this adage …
Suppose you come home and find someone has set fire to your house and is running away. Do you chase the fire starter, or do you fight the fire?
I’ve heard a few people say they’d go after the arsonist. Others said they’d fight the flames. And some had no answer at all.
My Insta-Poll came back 7 to 1 in favor of fighting the fire.
So why’d I ask in the first place?
I keep hearing from people who are angry about certain political decisions, or about the way a certain race/religion/or gender is mistreated. Of course we have a right to be angry about that.
But it seems we spend a great deal of time ranting about, or resenting the individuals that have done us wrong. Boiling in the pot, so-to-speak. Yet much like politicians and their verbal barbs and finger pointing, or campaign promises, I don’t hear enough plans, ideas, or solutions to deal with the problems..
I hear the pain and the suffering. I hear the anger. But I don’t hear enough about the remedies, or even the efforts to find the cures. Is it because bad news sells? Or is it something more?
Like the old adage, if you chase the arsonist your house burns down. You lose precious possessions and memories … quite possibly you’ll lose a life.
Don’t get me wrong. Discussion, even debate is necessary. But it should be constructive, with an eye towards resolving, not in-flamming.
Most of us know all too well what’s wrong.
I feel, and it’s just my opinion, that more of our energy, strength, determination, passion, and intelligence would better serve us by focusing on solutions not accusations — solving the problem, fighting the fire, instead of chasing the arsonist.
Put simpler still, fix the problem not the blame.
SimmonsHereAndNow 