The piece I'm working on right now is giving me some trouble in terms of opposing points of view. I don't want the characters to be entirely black and white, because that would bore the reader. So, I've been casting around among my friends on facebook to look at how their friends approach different issues.
What I discovered truly shocked me. I suppose by now I should be use to the idea that some people are blind to the problems of others, and so self-centred that they feel no duty to assist their neighbours, but I hadn't realized how far into the mind-set of centuries gone by some people had gone.
When pejorative epithets like "undeserving poor", "free-riders", "greedy unionists", "whiny women", "eco-terrorists", "lying scientists" and others spout unchecked in the posts of some who espouse unbridled capitalistic growth, and when these speakers are thick on the ground, there is true cause for worry. Even moreso when they love their wallets more than their fellow humans.
So many of these cardboard characters seem to be Evangelical so-called Christians, many of whom seem to have forgotten the original purpose of their religion. Not much about charity, sharing, and duty to others there. It's all about greed and preventing anyone outside their narrow circle from sticking their hands in the pockets of the chosen few. For such people, while they await the "Rapture" it doesn't matter a damn what we do to the planet and each other in the meantime. Magical thinking isn't thinking at all. But it certainly does appeal to some.
Evolved principles like justice and equity have no place in the closed minds of so many today. Whether they're radical religionists, political fascists, corporate graspers, or just plain greedy and selfish, they seem to be lacking in compassion, vision, empathy and love -- but the main characteristic they lack is a sense of humour! And surely the first and best trait of people is our willingness to see the ridiculous and to laugh at ourselves? How has humanity managed to breed a whole generation of humourless sociopaths?
All this is very discouraging, and isn't getting me any closer to my original problem of character development. I suppose only reality can tolerate such flat characters as we see around us. For fiction, I'm going to have to blunt their edges with a few more palatable traits, and allow them a few glimpses of someone else's point of view.
It's certainly not going to happen in the real world.
2012-06-18
2012-05-28
labels
Labels and the words they come from are on my mind a lot lately.
Politically speaking (and how you wish I wouldn't) Liberal is the opposite of Conservative...and never the twain shall meet. It's usually framed as people vs money; environment vs money; social values vs money...you get the idea. In many parts of the world, the money "side" is accompanied by inflexible and malicious ideologies, proponents of which hate everyone and everything outside their narrow scope. People even label things as simplistically as "LEFT" and "RIGHT", where for many, "left" = "wrong".
On the other hand, most people are neither wholly liberal nor wholly conservative, in their common senses. For instance, I consider myself to be liberal (opposite = stingy) with friendship, compassion, hospitality, money for both personal pleasure and helping others, and distaste for those who put money over people/environment/social values. But I'm also conservative (opposite = profligate) when it comes to friendship, personal & environmental resources, things I consider to be human rights including freedom of speech, access to clean water/air/food, justice, housing and medical care, and money when it's being stolen to enrich the already over-rich or fund totalitarian regimes. Only we can't call it conservative any more because that's been usurped by the labellers. It's now called "conservationist", which is definitely "wrong" in their eyes.
It's only a matter of time before people start ostracizing the left-handed among us, as they did in the bad old days.
On the other hand, most people are neither wholly liberal nor wholly conservative, in their common senses. For instance, I consider myself to be liberal (opposite = stingy) with friendship, compassion, hospitality, money for both personal pleasure and helping others, and distaste for those who put money over people/environment/social values. But I'm also conservative (opposite = profligate) when it comes to friendship, personal & environmental resources, things I consider to be human rights including freedom of speech, access to clean water/air/food, justice, housing and medical care, and money when it's being stolen to enrich the already over-rich or fund totalitarian regimes. Only we can't call it conservative any more because that's been usurped by the labellers. It's now called "conservationist", which is definitely "wrong" in their eyes.
It's only a matter of time before people start ostracizing the left-handed among us, as they did in the bad old days.
2011-08-15
stuff = clutter
Story of my life so far:
1. accumulate stuff, both physically & mentally -- school, work, &c
2. feel overwhelmed by stuff, retire from job
3. attempt to de-clutter life, ongoing
It's not that the stuff isn't mostly worth anything. No, at least at the time I acquired it all, it was worth something to me. Turns out, though, that it's not all worth the same now as it was when I acquired it. I could get all deep & philosophical about this & talk about how we change with age, but it's old news so I won't bother.
The hard part is teasing out the things that matter to me now, and not lose them in a frenzy to de-clutter everything. You simply can't do that, there will always be some clutter. Simplification isn't just a matter of discarding unwanted stuff, it's a whole new mind-set.
I've seen it before in others. Just when you think you're ready to kick back & enjoy everything, you discover that you want to do & be more than that. So, what of all those things you acquired? Well, at least you had the pleasure of acquiring them. And most of what you acquired is useful for someone, somewhere.
Take costume jewellery as an example. Over the years, I've picked up a lot of interesting pieces at craft fairs & from individual makers & as travel mementos. None of it terribly valuable, I've only got a few pieces worth anything. Not even much gold, as I've always preferred silver. So, one of the things I did recently was go through it all and put aside things I'll never wear again. Took the lot to a family reunion & put them out "to a good home". Lots of little girls in the connection (& a few big ones) took up the offer. Feels good on both counts -- I gain some drawer space & they get something they like. Jewellery, if it had feelings, is useful again.
Same thing, only moreso, with clothes. We both went through our closets & drawers with a figurative back-hoe yesterday, and came up with 5 boxes of things that don't fit or we haven't even seen for years to go to the thrift shop. Also a bag of real cast-offs to go to the bin that sells old clothes by the pound for charity. Gain -- more closet space so clothes aren't permanently wrinkled plus good feeling that some less fortunate will get wearable things.
Next? Books. That's going to take a lot longer than the few hours for the jewellery or the day for the clothes.
1. accumulate stuff, both physically & mentally -- school, work, &c
2. feel overwhelmed by stuff, retire from job
3. attempt to de-clutter life, ongoing
It's not that the stuff isn't mostly worth anything. No, at least at the time I acquired it all, it was worth something to me. Turns out, though, that it's not all worth the same now as it was when I acquired it. I could get all deep & philosophical about this & talk about how we change with age, but it's old news so I won't bother.
The hard part is teasing out the things that matter to me now, and not lose them in a frenzy to de-clutter everything. You simply can't do that, there will always be some clutter. Simplification isn't just a matter of discarding unwanted stuff, it's a whole new mind-set.
I've seen it before in others. Just when you think you're ready to kick back & enjoy everything, you discover that you want to do & be more than that. So, what of all those things you acquired? Well, at least you had the pleasure of acquiring them. And most of what you acquired is useful for someone, somewhere.
Take costume jewellery as an example. Over the years, I've picked up a lot of interesting pieces at craft fairs & from individual makers & as travel mementos. None of it terribly valuable, I've only got a few pieces worth anything. Not even much gold, as I've always preferred silver. So, one of the things I did recently was go through it all and put aside things I'll never wear again. Took the lot to a family reunion & put them out "to a good home". Lots of little girls in the connection (& a few big ones) took up the offer. Feels good on both counts -- I gain some drawer space & they get something they like. Jewellery, if it had feelings, is useful again.
Same thing, only moreso, with clothes. We both went through our closets & drawers with a figurative back-hoe yesterday, and came up with 5 boxes of things that don't fit or we haven't even seen for years to go to the thrift shop. Also a bag of real cast-offs to go to the bin that sells old clothes by the pound for charity. Gain -- more closet space so clothes aren't permanently wrinkled plus good feeling that some less fortunate will get wearable things.
Next? Books. That's going to take a lot longer than the few hours for the jewellery or the day for the clothes.
2011-08-03
now that I'm back...
I don't have anything special to say!
It's turning into a long, hot summer, which the garden loves but I'm not so keen on. Restricting my outdoor excursions to early morning & late evening until the prolific mosquitoes chase me back in.
My main lot in life this summer appears to be scaring wildlife. I had a close encounter with a chipmunk this morning. Yesterday it was a very small rabbit, and a cat that had collapsed from the heat in the one patch of shade on my south-facing deck.
There are many other things on my mind, but I have other fish to fry today so now that I know I can post again I'll let them simmer & post them later.
It's turning into a long, hot summer, which the garden loves but I'm not so keen on. Restricting my outdoor excursions to early morning & late evening until the prolific mosquitoes chase me back in.
My main lot in life this summer appears to be scaring wildlife. I had a close encounter with a chipmunk this morning. Yesterday it was a very small rabbit, and a cat that had collapsed from the heat in the one patch of shade on my south-facing deck.
There are many other things on my mind, but I have other fish to fry today so now that I know I can post again I'll let them simmer & post them later.
posting woes continued
I've deleted cache & cookies & it STILL won't post. *sigh*
UPDATE: I've posted this from Firefox, the problem seems to be IE-dependent, since I deleted cache & cookies, have updated Flash, &c ad infinitum
UPDATE: I've posted this from Firefox, the problem seems to be IE-dependent, since I deleted cache & cookies, have updated Flash, &c ad infinitum
2011-07-19
posting woes
I've been having trouble posting in this blog for a while now. Testing to see if it's working.
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