Anger is All Around Us.

How will we cope? 

In The Unmoving Sky, brothers Artie and Jackson have to deal with their father’s abuse of alcohol to forget their mother’s death and hide his guilt. While their father, a lieutenant, is busy forgetting he neglects his children. Something that had been going on for years. It takes a heck of a lot of earth shattering misfortune to bring him back to a place where he remembers what’s important, and his boys now 17 and 15, are the most important people in his life. His tether to the one woman he loved more than anything in the world. But he neglects them, why? 

Anger is all around us. Our society is hacking away at foundations of peace and cooperation and tolerance. Police are killing black men EVERY DAY. #BlackLivesMatter  They’re being systematically hunted down!!

It’s insane, and more insane that those in a position of power and MORAL DUTY do NOTHING!  

I moved to NYC from Florida because NYC was the melting pot of culture (here in the US) I grew up with a Greek mother and her belly dancing parties. It was often like the United Nations at our house. I love it. I love diversity in ALL its colors and ways. Diversity is healthy. It is Life. (Just like in the plant world diversity keeps the crop healthy) The USA was founded on immigrants. What the hell is going on in this country?

Why such intolerance?  

F  E   A   R   +  I G N O A N C E    = a mess 

and/or hatred, anger, feelings of unworthiness, self-pity.   Not healthy.

I’d wondered about a book I read years ago about the school system: Dumbing Us Down : The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling (2002) by John Taylor Gatto, who’d spent years in the NYC public school system. A great book! I read this when my boys were younger. Our family had quite the ride dealing with the DOE in NYC, especially with my eldest son having dyslexia and struggling every day in the system. (A post for another day.)

I can’t help feeling that education is key. I wonder how much of our government wants peace at all, or want people to move out of poverty and ignorance? They strip the schools of funds, making poverty stricken teachers pick up the tab for needed school supplies. Making it harder and harder for kids to learn when the ARTS are taking out. I couldn’t believe that gym was being removed from my kids’ elementary school, only to wind up with an excess of hyper kids—who the school officials wanted to drug!!! OMG. I know when I go for a run or exercise I am fully ready to absorb information and settle down. Why do they shoot themselves in the foot like this?

Ignorance is leading us to darkness, and knowledge is one key for undoing the damage of hatred. We need to expand the minds of others. Ignorance creates fear.

Between the major media outlets supplying excessive fodder to aggrandize the unwitting public, shock and awe of war every hour of the day, whether from overseas or our backyards. It HAS TO STOP. If you or someone you love, needs help managing their anger or finding the tools to cope, there are hotlines. Here's a previous post about < anger hotlines > with links. 

And there are books! Read outside your circle of influence. Read others’ perspectives. Reading is just about the easiest way to learn and it’s affordable. You can always check out books from your awesome local library. I’ve begun downloading ebooks from Overdrive and 3M and I'm ecstatic! 

Here's a little help for those of us with white privilege can do. A very informative < post >.

How Does Anger Serve Us?

Anger, sizzling frustration, burning coals of unmet desire. How do we tame it? In my novella, THE UNMOVING SKY, there’s anger, guilt, frustration, and regret. How does it serve us?  

Anger has its useful side. When something burns you up, ask yourself why? Are you angry with yourself, or another? Releasing control might help some situations, freeing your heart of this imprisoning temperament. But instead, get a microscope. Look closely at what is causing the initial frustration, before it leads you down a destructive path. 

I’ve had to deal with other people’s anger much of my life. But really, who hasn’t? I’ve been on the other side of the belt, bullying, or jealousy. Anger comes in many forms. Insecurity made be part of its seed. Often it’s a build up of several factors. Everyone has stress but how do you deal with yours? This is fundamental.

Our world has been led into some scary scenario’s being played out. This anger is very difficult to scratch: the collective anger. Many of us are frustrated with this election season, the state of the world, our dwindling resources, and those in power doing NOTHING to help our country or the rest of OUR suffering World. Though we protest, we have little control. So much anger everywhere. 

Once again, I bring us back to managing this anger and deep frustration.

A few ideas: 

Communication. This is top for me. I know much frustration, anger, and disappointment can be headed off by communicating, talking about the situation. Learning to understand others. Put yourself in their shoes. See the good first. 

I'm speaking from life experience, but for further discussion you can find help here:·   

From the experts at American Psychological Association, to help you understand your anger.

• Prevent Child Abuse America offers information to parents who need help controlling their anger.
• The Domestic Abuse Helpline for Men and Women offers intervention and support to victims of anger and domestic violence.
• The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence offers abundant information on anger resolution, creating a family safety plan, and identity protection for victims of anger and abuse.
•  A website listing of state hotline numbers for anger management services and domestic violence resources.