Gripe of the day?

My mother had some thoughts on the concepts of that title.

Count your blessings instead of your problems and you will be happier.

Every cloud has a silver lining if you're patient enough to wait for it.

Let a smile be your umbrella. (I remember the old, old song!)

When you laugh, the world laughs with you. When you cry, you cry alone.

So I tend not to think about griping much. It just occurs before I notice. But it's not that I want to gripe today. It's more a pondering. On a writer list there was a discussion about the latest vampire literature craze. I guess, when I think about it, it's not unusual to try to 'read into' the stuff we read. Surely everything must have a psychologial meaning, right? I'm not so sure about that.

I am a writer. I am a writer of fiction. While I do like to use one thing to represent something else sometimes, I keep going back to something my friend Maureen has said numerous times, "Just write a good story." another friend, Janet, said, "Write the kinds of stories you like to read." And even SK (Stephen King) advises, "Write what you know."

Pondering comments about the toxicity of vampires, at first I thought those remarks were narrow-minded. But, if they are the stories that the reader doesn't like, well, it's reasonable to conclude that they don't have to read them. Another conclusion: even if they don't like the themes of the Twilight stories, the stories elicit remarks, make people use their gray matter to think. THAT is what 'good' writing is all about!

I don't think we have to write with psychological intent. I think it just happens as we write about facets of life that involve the human psyche naturally. The knowledge and skills the reader has will determine her or his interpretations. And always, it seems, the writer is expressing her or his opinions based on his or her experiences. Thus, everything is political.

Politics: the total complex of relations between people living in society. (Just one of a long list of definitions.

So, my gripe isn't really a gripe. I'm not sure I'm even writing a political statement.

(c) 2010 Cathy Thomas Brownfield
All rights reserved -- Contact author for permission to use.

The Heart of the Matter

Five years ago "Tom," a minister, required a heart transplant. I suppose a lot of people had trouble understanding how such a bad thing could happen to a "man of the Cloth."

Last June (2009) a friend, "Jay" took seriously, life-threateningly, ill. I guess he's been ill for as long as I've known him, but being the way I am, I didn't want to think about that. "You can't give up," I would advise. The remainder of the year was a challenge for "Jay" and his wife. They learned that he will require a heart transplant to live. When they told me of this, I immediately contacted "Tom" in West Virginia, and asked him to talk to "Jay" in North Carolina. He did.

"The worst thing about a heart transplant," said "Tom," "is what you're going through right now."

The world got a little smaller when "Jay" learned that his sister's neighbor had a heart transplant 10 years ago and is still going strong. He is encouraged.

I remember when the first artificial heart surgery was done in South Africa, wasn't it? Then there was the first human to human heart transplant. Dr. Christiaan Barnard (Nov. 8, 1922-Sept. 2, 2001) performed the first kidney transplant in South Africa in October 1967 and the first successful human to human heart transplant Dec. 3, 1967. Dorothy Fisher was the first black recipient, and lived for 12-1/2 years after her transplant in 1969. Dirk van Zyl lived 23 more years following his heart transplant in 1971. Barnard's brother, Marius, was his "right hand man in cardiac surgery." The source I referred to advises that he did not die of a heart attack, but of a severe asthma attack.

That technology continues to improve, I believe there are plenty of reasons for "Jay" to be encouraged to have the heart transplant and live a long life, dancing at his youngest granddaughter's wedding when she grows up.

(c) 2010 Cathy Thomas Brownfield
All rights reserved -- Contact author for permission to use.

Future

What will be happening 10-10-10? I ask only because I just wrote 1-1-10 and thought about that Chinese thing about the meanings of dates that are the same, day, month and year: 10-10-10 But I suppose if something bad happens on 10 Oct. 2010, the gestapo will come for me. If something good happens, someone else more important than me will get the credit.

Not only is Uncle Sam putting full body scanners in airports, which is a violation of my civil rights, an invasion of my privacy!, the Blair-Holt Bill before Congress will take our guns, put us in jail and put our families at the mercy of criminals and government powers, completely taking away our freedoms. When I say "us" I am speaking generally. I do not have an arsenal in my possession.

My husband and I were talking about Blair-Holt. He expects that nothing will come of this because when the government starts taking guns from honest citizens, there will be a civil war with bloodshed. I don't want people to die! I said. Well, he said, that's what happens when you go to war. People die. But, I want to protect my children and my grandchildren! I want them to live to old age and enjoy their lives.

But I know what he says is true. When there is cause for war, war happens. When war happens, people die, there is bloodshed. And heartbreak for the lost lives that may have gone on to do great things for our people had they not become the fallen.

I'm not convinced that the global neighborhood is a good thing. At all. I'm not a feminist. I'm not a revolutionary. I'm not a rebel. I'm concerned.

(c) 2010 Cathy Thomas Brownfield
All rights reserved -- Contact author for permission to use.