Sometimes I think we should permanently fly the American flag at half mast given all the mass shootings that result in senseless deaths. It’s a sad thing to say.
Twenty years ago I started this column. The first one addressed a mass shooting in Arkansas or Kentucky, if I remember correctly. A youth got guns out of his grandparents’ home and went on a shooting spree.
In the ensuing 20 years, the frequency and number of people killed in mass shootings in the United States has grown. We are a violent culture. We settled this country violently. And to this day, we too frequently have people who act out violently, for whatever reason.
Beyond the shooters who are seriously psychologically and mentally disturbed, I believe there are two significant factors affecting certain individuals that causes them to go off in frustration and craziness: 1) Over-population, and 2) anxiety based on our overly complicated society that causes their rage to boil over. Many people can’t cope. Some take out their anger (or pettiness) with guns.
The current U.S. population is 320+ million, with more and more individuals being crammed into urban and suburban areas. Traffic, waiting in lines, unnecessary crowds can all cause unease in people, nervousness, a desire to get away to an area where they aren’t so bothered by modern day life.
As my older brother often says, “Too many rats in the maze. What happens? They start to gnaw on each other.” It’s a very apt description for how some individuals go off with a gun. They lose it. They want to gnaw on someone else.
Beyond our ever-growing population which requires people to adjust their mindsets and learn how to deal with rubbing elbows more frequently with people they may not know, the other variable is the complexity of modern life in general. If you think, for example, how much paperwork we all have to process in a given day, week, month or year, it’s mindboggling.
Taxes. Insurance forms. Getting your driver’s license renewed. Ordering a prescription online. Applying for jobs through the internet. Many of these functions have become impersonal over the years, so if you need help you can’t get it face-to-face.
Instead, you go through a series of numbers to push on your phone, waiting and waiting to get a customer service representative who may or may not be able to help you. Your frustrations grow as these incidents increase. It takes a healthy mentality to be able to roll with these punches, and not everyone has one.
The frustrations spill over. Better coping mechanisms become a societal need.
It would be nice to say there is some easy solution to help people calm down and heal their minds a bit. I’ve found a few that work for me. Walking the dogs in the woods is an excellent mind settler. Reading a good novel takes your worries away and engages you so that your worries are set aside. Exercising, telling a joke, meditating, making a good meal, praying, or just plain having a good conversation with a friend you care about are all excellent ways to release some of those pent-up tensions.
I don’t have a copyright on relaxing, that’s for sure. But if you work at it, you can take steps to ease our mind. We’d be better off if more people took those types of moments to heal their minds in a healthy way instead of exploding in rage.
Twenty years ago I started this column. The first one addressed a mass shooting in Arkansas or Kentucky, if I remember correctly. A youth got guns out of his grandparents’ home and went on a shooting spree.
In the ensuing 20 years, the frequency and number of people killed in mass shootings in the United States has grown. We are a violent culture. We settled this country violently. And to this day, we too frequently have people who act out violently, for whatever reason.
Beyond the shooters who are seriously psychologically and mentally disturbed, I believe there are two significant factors affecting certain individuals that causes them to go off in frustration and craziness: 1) Over-population, and 2) anxiety based on our overly complicated society that causes their rage to boil over. Many people can’t cope. Some take out their anger (or pettiness) with guns.
The current U.S. population is 320+ million, with more and more individuals being crammed into urban and suburban areas. Traffic, waiting in lines, unnecessary crowds can all cause unease in people, nervousness, a desire to get away to an area where they aren’t so bothered by modern day life.
As my older brother often says, “Too many rats in the maze. What happens? They start to gnaw on each other.” It’s a very apt description for how some individuals go off with a gun. They lose it. They want to gnaw on someone else.
Beyond our ever-growing population which requires people to adjust their mindsets and learn how to deal with rubbing elbows more frequently with people they may not know, the other variable is the complexity of modern life in general. If you think, for example, how much paperwork we all have to process in a given day, week, month or year, it’s mindboggling.
Taxes. Insurance forms. Getting your driver’s license renewed. Ordering a prescription online. Applying for jobs through the internet. Many of these functions have become impersonal over the years, so if you need help you can’t get it face-to-face.
Instead, you go through a series of numbers to push on your phone, waiting and waiting to get a customer service representative who may or may not be able to help you. Your frustrations grow as these incidents increase. It takes a healthy mentality to be able to roll with these punches, and not everyone has one.
The frustrations spill over. Better coping mechanisms become a societal need.
It would be nice to say there is some easy solution to help people calm down and heal their minds a bit. I’ve found a few that work for me. Walking the dogs in the woods is an excellent mind settler. Reading a good novel takes your worries away and engages you so that your worries are set aside. Exercising, telling a joke, meditating, making a good meal, praying, or just plain having a good conversation with a friend you care about are all excellent ways to release some of those pent-up tensions.
I don’t have a copyright on relaxing, that’s for sure. But if you work at it, you can take steps to ease our mind. We’d be better off if more people took those types of moments to heal their minds in a healthy way instead of exploding in rage.
