This post is sponsored by Kleenex....
I had every plan this evening of sitting down and writing about something flippant like baking, making skirts or the controversy surrounding "whiplash", which I have been watching with interest. I had some clothes to fold (as you do) so thought I would do that first while watching some TV. Bad move.
Firstly, I watched "Missing Person's Unit". That in itself wasn't too bad. One story in particular about a man who has been searching for nine years for his sister was a bit emotional. In hindsight now, I know that this show was just used as the warm up for "Hello Goodbye". This is a "real life" show set in the international arrivals and departures of Sydney airport.
I was a blubbering mess! It doesn't actually take much for me to lose it. I often cry several times during the nightly news. I have vowed and declared that I will never watch this show again. I can't take the emotional strain! There was a mother waiting for her five year old son who she had left behind in Argentina. She hadn't seen him for eight months. Although I did think the show was very exploitive of people who were extremely vulnerable, the emotion here was just excruciatingly real.
Then there was the Sudanese family who had been forced to flee their country, leaving behind a two year old son. They had no idea if he was dead or alive but with the help of the Red Cross, had found him alive and well with his grandmother in Ethiopia. He was now 12 years old and the reunion was beautiful.
Every day I see people and consciously or subconsciously, I judge. It may be something as minor as an appearance (yes, I judge on appearances far more frequently than I care to admit) or something a little more harsh such as a person's parenting skills, or what I deem to be lack thereof. It is a very simple lesson, one that I have heard many a time, don't judge a book by it's cover. And this TV show, as tacky and all that it was, bought it all home.
Everyone of us has a story to tell. Some choose to wear that story like a badge, other's wear it more like, well, a singlet. You wear it to keep you warm, but you don't actually want anyone to know that you have it on. The pain that some people are forced to bear in life is enormous. Only this week I have learnt indirectly of two people who I know through various associations with my children (and have known for some time now), who have lost a child. One child was 18 months, the other 14 years old. Both in absolutely tragic circumstances and both happened before I knew these people. I now look at them in a very different light and am in awe of their strength. I think these stories have been weighing in on my mind too.
To tie this all together, I guess I just really wanted to say what a very good girlfriend of mine says, "walk a mile in my moccasins", and may I use this post as a little reminder to always be grateful for life as I know it in this moment.
Now back to normal broadcasting .....
Firstly, I watched "Missing Person's Unit". That in itself wasn't too bad. One story in particular about a man who has been searching for nine years for his sister was a bit emotional. In hindsight now, I know that this show was just used as the warm up for "Hello Goodbye". This is a "real life" show set in the international arrivals and departures of Sydney airport.
I was a blubbering mess! It doesn't actually take much for me to lose it. I often cry several times during the nightly news. I have vowed and declared that I will never watch this show again. I can't take the emotional strain! There was a mother waiting for her five year old son who she had left behind in Argentina. She hadn't seen him for eight months. Although I did think the show was very exploitive of people who were extremely vulnerable, the emotion here was just excruciatingly real.
Then there was the Sudanese family who had been forced to flee their country, leaving behind a two year old son. They had no idea if he was dead or alive but with the help of the Red Cross, had found him alive and well with his grandmother in Ethiopia. He was now 12 years old and the reunion was beautiful.
Every day I see people and consciously or subconsciously, I judge. It may be something as minor as an appearance (yes, I judge on appearances far more frequently than I care to admit) or something a little more harsh such as a person's parenting skills, or what I deem to be lack thereof. It is a very simple lesson, one that I have heard many a time, don't judge a book by it's cover. And this TV show, as tacky and all that it was, bought it all home.
Everyone of us has a story to tell. Some choose to wear that story like a badge, other's wear it more like, well, a singlet. You wear it to keep you warm, but you don't actually want anyone to know that you have it on. The pain that some people are forced to bear in life is enormous. Only this week I have learnt indirectly of two people who I know through various associations with my children (and have known for some time now), who have lost a child. One child was 18 months, the other 14 years old. Both in absolutely tragic circumstances and both happened before I knew these people. I now look at them in a very different light and am in awe of their strength. I think these stories have been weighing in on my mind too.
To tie this all together, I guess I just really wanted to say what a very good girlfriend of mine says, "walk a mile in my moccasins", and may I use this post as a little reminder to always be grateful for life as I know it in this moment.
Now back to normal broadcasting .....
posted by Violet & Rose at 10:08 pm
2 Comments:
A lovely post, Jo. I also came across that programme this evening and sobbed almost for the entire half hour, too (another one here prone to tears at the drop of a hat!) It was cheesy (that music!), but humbling, too. That said, I won't be watching it again, either... that many rainforests worth of kleenex don't need to be sacrified again!
wonderful post and very honest. I have to stop myself now and again when i'm having a 'bad day' and remind myself that i am very lucky to have what i have. thanks.
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