A Friday Night Out!!!

I'm suddenly feeling a little bit tired and I think that's reflected in my eyes today (or, should I say, under them!!) but I still feel good. A near and dear friend is watching the baby tonight so N and I can go out together alone. I'm looking forward to enjoying a date with my husband; I have my red cowboy boots on for the occasion!!! I watched "Bowling for Columbine" last night. I'd seen it before but it really got to me this time, particularly when Michael Moore talked about a six year old girl being murdered by a six year old classmate. Our country is so messed up; the statistics for violence are so much lower in Canada than they are here, and the only reason I could come up with for that is that, in general, our values here are so screwed up and it's so difficult to make a good, comfortable living. The norm here in the U.S. seems to be that people live to work rather than working to live. We get so caught up in the rat race that we don't have time to spend with our children and families, with the people who are really valuable to us. Healthcare is something that WAY too many of us can't afford, and those of us who can afford some form of healthcare often can't afford a decent health plan. A woman shouldn't have to work two jobs just to pay her rent and then have no time left to spend raising her son (which was the case with the six year old who killed that little girl). The poverty levels in this country are rising, and with the current system in place we seem to be working toward eradicating the middle class all together. I turn on the news and I'm bombarded with images of car wrecks, homicides, domestic violence, and enough sadness to completely ruin the dinner hour. Surely good, positive things happen during the day??? It's seems that our society is hooked on bad news like we're hooked on junk food. The problem is that, much like junk food, it doesn't sit very well in our bellies once it's gone down. I'm the sort of person who turns my head when I pass a car accident on the highway. I hate seeing people hurt and I abhor violence. I think that what saddens me the most is how powerless I feel over all of the pain that's going on in the world. I can control only my own actions. I can adopt one of the kittens at St. Francis Mission that is badly in need of love and care. I can spend time with my own daughter and tell her every day how much I love her. I can help to create a warm, comfortable home environment for my family, I can pray, I can spread love through my artwork. What I can't do, if I want to make any difference at all in the world, is become too depressed or down about what I can't change.