America: The Beautiful

It was rather tough typing out the title of this post but, it's what I wanted to portray. 

The media will do what the media wants to do. Most of the time, that seems to consist of sending out nothing but negative news. But to be honest, I myself have tried to put things in their perspective and yes, negative news always catches the eye before positive news. Think about it, heroic story vs. crime rage story, which one are your eyes going to wander to? Well, the crime of course because you want to know if it's happening near you! Dog gets rescued vs. car bomber: Car Bomber wins! Happens every time. With society becoming more and more of a "share", "retweet", "+1" culture, one negative story can be told more than 60 times in a matter of one hour. It's a shame really. We blame the media but, yet here we are sharing in their negativity. I can't stand it. I told myself at the beginning of the year, kind of as a New Year's resolution, I would keep all shared posts positive. I wouldn't dabble in the negative stories. I would leave that to all the conspiracy theorists, arguers and complainers. It hasn't been easy, I'll admit. I had to "untrain" my fingers from clicking share. You would think as much as we argue day to day that our facebook's would steer clear of all that jazz. But, I digress. 

What I wanted to say is this: America is beautiful. Yes. I said it and here's why. IDAHO. As I stated earlier, the media will portray what they want to you to see, think, feel, worry, ponder, and fear. Paranoia is their tactic. If television can keep us distracted it's done its job. When we stay glued to the tube we miss what is actually going on around us. Around us, it's actually not too bad. When you plant a garden and its crop is ready for harvest, if you see one bad ear of corn, do you throw away the whole harvest? Absolutely not. That's to say the same for America. When you have one religious fanatic who goes and shoots up a school in the name of his/her god does that make every individual in that religion a murderer? Nope. I've been rather ashamed within the past few months to look at my country through a tv screen and see what is going on. But, that's not really ALL that's been going on. That's the "bad ear of corn". Out there in all the other 49 states good things are happening everywhere. What the media isn't showing, is the kind gentleman in the airport who helped an elderly lady get a wheelchair to wheel her to her flight. What the media isn't showing, is the man who on his free time picks up litter around his city to keep it beautiful for visitors. What the media isn't showing, is a city like Boise where people actually go to bed with their back doors unlocked because there is no crime. THERE IS NO CRIME. Seriously, for six days I visited Boise and the rest of the state and I would watch the news shows in the afternoons. They shared Other cities crime stories because their city didn't have any. The media loves to show how overweight our country is but, yet in Boise, half the locals travel to the foothills of the Rockies on the weekend to camp, hike, fish, and kayak. I saw America again and had hope. I also saw the media for what it is, a lens. A lens can only capture part of the story it can never give you the full perspective, as is the same for a photo. 

Maybe you have felt the same way as I, in that when you thought on your country or thought of yourself being a proud American, you got this bad taste in your mouth or a pit in your stomach, almost embarrassed. I encourage you, TRAVEL. If all you do is stay on your recliner in your living room, enjoy your paranoia. But, if you get out and travel, rest assured, the whole harvest hasn't gone to pot, it's just one ear of corn :). 

This is your country :). America: The Beautiful. Let's share the beauty not the ugly.