A Call To Arms

I didn't call the gym in time to extend the hold on my membership, so voila, I found myself on the ellipticals this morning before my chiropractic appointment. I always choose the machines on the end, as far from the tv screens as possible, and plug in some great, uplifting tunes or success principles talk. Good little predator that I am, though, I am drawn to the flickering lights and moving forms on the screens. We are futher inflicted with the (dis)service of captioning, so it requires intention to escape the gorey details of the latest tragedies sweeping the world.

My mom once told it was my responsibility to know what is going on in the world. No doubt. It is also, and far more crucially, my responsibility to impact the world. Can I watch the news without being swept in a wave of despair? Barely, and only with effort. I am too empathic for my good. Hearing the stories are bad enough. I am a visual person. Images haunt me, hurt me, chisel away at the tools of the co-creative trade.

I came home and logged in, and my mailbox homepage informed me that the "doomsday clock," reflecting someone's opinion of the world's proximity to nuclear disaster, had been moved forward. "Oh woe!"ing that knowledge, or launching a tirade around the water cooler or in the barn aisle, only increases our focus to the problem, only feeds the monster.

If the news started with a call to arms in the form of creative, solution-oriented thought, how fast could transformation take hold? If the anchors (perfect name for them!) challenged their listeners to create a backlash of love and peace, helping and change in their own words and worlds, what could we be seeing on CNN in a month or so?

Try it! Let me know what happens!