It has been a long time since I have tried a freewrite, but I ended up doing one because I didn't feel like finishing any of my other articles today, so I am doing something I used to do as a creativity exercise, many moons ago... and in many ways similar to the "freewrite" sessions I often see here on Steemit, hosted by .
So tip of the hat to Marianne for offering an indirect inspiration today!
Turning a different leaf...
My own "internal rules" are pretty simple:
Nab a single word that's in the forefront of your thoughts and write about it for ten minutes — hey, I type slowly! In this case, the word was "disgusted."
Only formatting and typo correction has been added.
On Your Marks! Get Set! Type!
Sometimes, I just get mildly disgusted with humanity.
I get disgusted with the violence, with the selfishness, with the carelessness and with the lack of awareness of one's surroundings.
A sad story: In Pakistan, an innocent family is arbitrarily gunned to death on suspicion of being "terrorists."
I'm disgusted because they were gunned down, and I am disgusted because there even are terrorists.
I know, I know... some are already thinking "Easy for you to say, sitting there in your safe world with your First World Problems!"
Sorry, you're missing the point.
I'm disgusted because the world is reactive, not inquisitive.
I don't get the mindset of people who kill, maim, torture and inflict pain.
I don't get kids who pull the legs off spiders, or the wings off butterflies.
I don't get bullies who enjoy watching others squirm.
I don't get adults who make sport out of abusing and bullying each other.
The Peaceful Path
Open Letter to an Imaginary — But Very Real — Human I Have "Met" too Many Times
So there's a community kitchen where volunteers cook food for a greater struggling community.
And you're thinking "I wonder what would happen if we set it on fire!"
I can tell you what will "happen."
The kitchen will burn down. People will get hurt. Resources and food will be lost. Many in the community will now starve, because they have no place to get food.
Why would anyone want to DO that?
"I just wanted to see what would HAPPEN!!"
What dark corner of the gene pool are you even FROM, to have something like that go through your head?
Meanwhile, what the frak part of the gene pool am I from, that it's completely unfathomable to me to even have such thoughts, let alone act on them... with complete disregard (or is it "blatant unawareness?") for anything other than your own sense of curiosity?
And what I really don't get is that many would simply shrug and insist "That's just pretty normal human behavior..."
Not normal in the gene pool I climbed out of... Or is it?
Of course, that's a fictitious dialogue. But this shit happens all the time, in different parts of the world.
Maybe the lesson here is that these incidents invite me to check myself.
And... I'm out of time.
A rare clear winter afternoon, in the Pacific Northwest
I realize this is not my normal style of post, but with a busy day of doing other stuff, I needed to break the usual routine. It was also a good exercise, because it forced me out of my usual "comfort zone," which involved gathering ideas and carefully assembling a post over several hours.
Thanks for reading!
How about YOU? Have you ever tried a "Freewrite?" Is it something you'd do, if you felt stuck for what to write? Meanwhile, are there aspects of humanity — that seems braodly accepted — that baffle you? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!
(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Created at 190122 19:14 PST
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