Monday, September 5, 2011

Monday Mayhem #1: Disasters Natural and Otherwise

So last week on Lisi's Blah-g, I was talking to a girl named Deirdre about how she was taking the hurricane. She was keeping me company (God bless her soul) while most of the blah-g gals were at school, and she was telling me that New York didn't get hit as bad as they thought it would--- that they were kind of overprepared because of all of the hype that Irene brought around.

I wanted to talk about how natural disasters made me feel, BUT as ususal, when I start writing, things tend to take an unconventional turn. My first thoughts to share with you this Mundane Monday was going to be to explain my general fear of natural disasters because of how powerless and unprepared I feel when they come around. But, now there's something else I want to talk about. A word that kills.

Hype.

Disasters, like drama, are unavoidable circumstances. They come at times you least expect them to. They can come in low blows or at full-throttle. But sometimes we're lucky enough to see them coming ahead of time. So we prepare according to what we assume is going to happen. We prepare just in case the worst is going to come at its worst.

Assumption leads to devastation, sometimes, though. Today, I assumed something was going to blow out of proportion and ended up being wrong. I prepared for the worst--- I hate having my own name dragged through the mud--- and I tried to stop it early on. But the tables were turned and yes, they were turned against me. But building up to that moment (and now, even after it) was just a bunch of premeditated and now uncontrollable hype. You live and you learn, I suppose.

Is it wrong to stock up for the winter if you know it's coming? Heck no. And is it wrong to have certain things in place in case it storms? Absolutely not. But, in the end, you have to realize that no matter how much you prepare, no matter what you do to try to stop something, the storm will always run its own course. The  storm will always make its own twist in the story. And you've just got to be able to go with it.

How did you deal with a disaster (natural or otherwise) in your own life? I'd love to hear from you in the comments. Until Wednesday with my latest quick-write (prompt courtesy of the amazing Anita)...

Happy Labor Day,
Deserae M.

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