when reality sets in

I'm blog-happy today because it is my first day of blogging...hurrah!

Actually, while washing the remains of the day off my face, I thought of a letter I read in semi-controversial 7 Days: a reader was complaining about seeing the picture of an injured Pakistani girl (Maryam), victim of the devastating earthquake, in the pages of the newspaper, deeming it a "dreadful" picture, exposing the horrors of life and scarring children for life, bla bla bla.

I am all for cheery happy reading. Hell, that is why I am addicted to celebrity lives: they don't affect me. Everytime I feel the world is the most evil creation there has ever been, I retreat and read about more pleasant things like Paris Hilton's fascinating life, or Lindsay Lohan's re-emerging breasts. But I do live in the real world.

I read the papers everyday. I watch the news. I voluntarily expose myself to the horrors of the world lest I become too positive. Sure, the media have a not-so-sly way of fighting for ratings and subscriptions, and shock and horror sell. This is the real world. Maryam is suffering while I blog, while complaining-lady writes to 7 days, and while we go on with our daily lives.

Ignorance may be bliss...inaction may be bliss. Of course, there are mornings when the last thing I want to see is blood and gore splashed all over the papers, and of course I remind myself that there are good things happening in the world. But why should we deny the world from living in reality, when we can voluntarily retreat?

If it all becomes too much for you to bear complaining-lady, switch the channel, put down the paper, Paris and Lindsay are up to enough antics to keep your mind off poor little Maryam for a while. But the likes of Maryam are the ones who will stay in your thoughts forever, and it is the likes of Maryam who will one day maybe make me and you get up and make a difference. If all else fails, I can only hope that the less fortunate of the world might feel the warmth of our thoughts.