Observations: Bee Stings and Censorship
I am a fairly optimistic person. When I’ve been asked how I maintain a positive attitude, I have lots of little quippy answers, to be sure. But, one of the most common ideas I share is conducting a contrast of my present moment with some prior, more painful, moment. It’s a silly little trick I use to stave off the blues. I try to be cognizant of the moments when I do not have a malady that previously made me think, “I just can’t wait for this to be over.” I will think about canker sores, headaches, or maybe even a broken heart. (But typically, I keep it to lighter forms of pain.) As of writing this, I do not have any of those things, so life is pretty great! (I do have a warm latte from the coffee shop a block away, so life is actually really great. And yes, doing this little trick just now actually improved my mood this morning.)
Anyway, now, thanks to a somewhat horrifying story my friend just told me, I will also think about how I presently do not have a bee sting (or four!).
A good friend of mine has beautiful dogs who love to get out for exercise. She and I share our love of getting our dogs outdoors for fresh Utah air (when available), sunshine, and a chance to meet friends. Unfortunately, my friend was met with rather unfriendly animals on an outing the other day. She related that she had the horrifying experience of getting several bees stuck under her hair! She was stung multiple times on her scalp. I mean, I have empathy for my friend, so I certainly am saddened by all of this on her behalf. But, admittedly, as time passes from her telling me that horrifying story, I will think of it as, “At least I don’t have bees stinging my head!”
Anyway, the point of bringing this up: I thought of this in conjunction with some of my fears at the outset of the current state of American politics and this presidential administration. Back when I was in school, I studied history with a particular emphasis on freedom of the press and censorship issues.
The strange, nascent presidency I saw a couple of years ago felt a lot like so many highly restrictive presidencies, dictatorships, and governments, of which I’d written in my school days. In my country, people were being bullied into self-censorship, the legitimacy of the press was highly challenged, and information dissemination felt chaotic at best.
I was scared.
So much has happened since and, of course, you’ll be flooded with even more of it on your current jaunt about the Internet. However, for me, I am at least trying to focus on what has not been taken away.
I do not presently have a bee sting: my voice is not presently censored.
Yes, I’m just me over here babbling about mostly nothing of any great import. Ya know, being nice to people and stuff. But, I’m so grateful for platforms, like the Utah Bee, that afford me the opportunity to babble about what’s important to me. I don’t feel restricted by my government in what I can say to you now, and that’s something that many people currently, and throughout human history, have not been able to say.
It feels so great to have my freedom to oversimplify life in my babbles. I will sincerely strive to do what I can to maintain recognition of the value of this, and to keep it available to others in this community.
Aside: watch out for bees at the park!