Monday, February 13, 2012

...the art of casting stones

I got to thinking today about the art of casting stones.  It struck me how judgmental we the human race are, especially since we are all essentially born with some type of characters flaws.

I had been reading earlier the different articles over the early demise of the now late Whitney Houston.  Far be it for me to ever write about the death of a celebrity, but I had made the mistake of scanning the comment sections of a few articles that were written.  I have to say I was horrified by the amount of sarcastic comments oozing off the screen.

I personally have never really been affected by the death of a celebrity, well with the exception of Elvis Presley and only because I was the same age as his daughter, Lisa Marie, and in my astute nine years of age, I wondered how she would fair in life without the guidance of a male figure.  Oh hell, I was just upset that she had lost her dad.

Often, when the latest celebrity death hits the net, or social media, or the media in general, I am one of the last to be shocked.  It's almost like I knew it was coming.  I, along with the majority of the population, could see the train wreck approaching and was just waiting for the moment when the actual collision, followed by the carnage, would occur.

So the death of Whitney Houston was for me, no shock at all.  

But what shocks me the most and saddens me to the core, is how we as humans are quick to step up on our soap boxes and bring out our almighty sword of judgment and withdraw our gift of compassion.

I don't know about you, but I can safely say that I am not without an addiction.  Hence my chubby little body and my love for fatty foods.  I see addiction in everyone.  Whether it's shopping your life away (and what could be considered my second weakness), exercising to the point of depriving your body of nutrients, drinking, drugs, hoarding, compulsively counting your life away, frugality, gambling, or counting bottles, whatever it is, we all have some form of weakness that we fight throughout our entire lives.  Unfortunately, in the case of Ms. Houston, some addictions are more harmful than others.

It's amazing to me how quickly we do things like jump on the band wagon to find a way to blame someone else for our own problems, or in this case Ms. Houston's problems.  But the fact remains, that in the end, we are the only ones responsible for ourselves, no one holds a gun to our heads and forces us to smoke weed, eat another doughnut, drink another beer, buy another pair of shoes, save every single penny, throw money away on a game of poker.  Nobody does that but us.

It makes me wonder sometimes, when will we learn to take responsibilities for our actions, but more importantly, when will we learn that passing judgment on others is only a meager disguise for what ails ourselves.

Hopefully, someday, we will learn that nothing good comes from the art of casting the first stone.  Sadly tho, I highly doubt it.

Now if you would excuse me, *ahem cough* I think its time for me to step down from my own soapbox.

Until Next Time.

Cheers
Tracy

24 comments:

  1. He who is without sin....ohhh, wait. That was your point.
    Well put!
    And what Sherilin said.

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  2. Blame is the name of the game and people love to play.

    I blame humanity. ;)

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  3. Tracy:

    I'm really not someone prone to quoting the Bible but I do love the passage where Jesus tells the mob that has gathered to stone a prostitute,"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." I think this really says it all. No one is without sins or weaknesses or whatever one chooses to call them.

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  4. Since we're quoting the Bible, what about "Judge not that ye be not judged." Not long ago, I caught myself being critical of someone and feeling very superior. But then I realized that I had done the same thing in the past. Oops. Then I wondered if there was anything I could judge someone for that I had not done, either directly or indirectly. Couldn't think of a single thing.

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  5. I think so far the only celebrity death that affected me was Christopher Reeve. I *loved* watching the old Superman movies with my dad. So Chris Reeve was the hero for me. And after his horseback riding accident he became a different kind of hero. Being the optimist that I'm usually not, I hoped he would be able to walk again. And then he was gone. My Superman.

    As for judging people, we are all guilty of it to one extent or another. And you're right, we all have our vices. Like you, I love my fatty, artery clogging foods. Reading comments that people leave on news articles makes me want to bang my head against the wall. Whitney made her choices, bad ones yes, but they were hers to make. We all knew it would end badly, even her. Pity her, don't hate on her.

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  6. well written and so true it stings! OUCH. Good on you Tracey...personally I could care less about WH. The only thing I don't like is when the media,and other stars go all gaga and pretend like they care......

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  7. I wasn't surprised she had died. The media has well and truly documented her battle with drugs.
    I am guilty for a facebook comment regarding the saturation coverage and overplaying of her music on Monday morning (my time)
    All of a sudden, she was back on the radio,over and over and over again in "tribute" (Pity she couldn't have been celebrated like that more recently before she died)
    I am sorry such a young woman died in unfortunate circumstances. I also worry for her daughter now.

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  8. Agree with you on all counts 100%! Well said, Tracy!

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  9. All I can say is YES!

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  10. Some of the comments I see on You tube etc, for some of the artists really annoy me too!!Grrr!!

    If the people who are leaving the negative comments had even a shred of the talent that Whitney had before drugs got a hold of her, They might not be so bitter and twisted about life! Talentless morons that write those things!!
    Im not a big fan of Whitney's at all but one of her lyrics said "learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all"......A lesson those negative idiots could do with and not leave their rubbish for others to read!

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  11. "...step up on our soap boxes...and withdraw our gift of compassion."

    Favorite line. Very nice post! (as usual)
    :)

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  12. I agree, it is sick how people can disrepect someone who has died, celebrity or not. As far as karma goes, I think its pretty stupid to say bad things about someone who is no longer with us. I read today that Sony increased the prices of her songs the minute they learned of her death. I have read mean and stupid and sick things people have said. Its all just so sad. I loved her voice and her music so I will continue to try to celebrate her life in a positive way. Thank you for posting this!

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  13. It truly is sad that a talent such as Whitney died. But I will say the media goes into "overkill" to the point that I can't stand hearing her name or songs anymore. There are so many great people who aren't celebrities that go through their lives struggling with addictions. It is a sad thing.

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  14. *applauds* Well said!

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  15. At times like these, as I often do, I quote from a comic book, Walt Simonson's Thor. "You mistake me, Peace. I do not grieve over his death, only the waste of his life."

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  16. I feel bad for Whitney, but I never feel shocked or overly saddened when a celebrity dies. People die all the time, and it is always sad, even if they possessed no talent.

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  17. well, This was a Good soap box to step Upon. One we all need to be reminded of when we start to feel to "self-righteous" for our own good.
    I have found, over these many years, that Judgment comes to a SEVERE hault, when tragedy happens in your own family.
    Ex. I lost my son to drugs, and alcohol. I wonderful, handsome, beautiful soul, son, father.
    I won't go into the details of how this all came about...NOT IMPORTANT here.
    And since MANY do not know the details, I DARE YOU to throw out "that first stone"
    so....when severe difficulties, and trials, and sorrows hit your own life, funny how the whole judgment card ceases.
    Lets use the Love and Caring Card.

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  18. Such a great post. You've managed to write down exactly what I was thinking about the whole thing.

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  19. Thank you all for the great input and comments xo

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  20. I never judge others, although husband and I kid each other unmercifully ;-) Perhaps because I grew up always being judged instead of the other way around, I know how the other shoe feels. No one's perfect and compassion seems scarse these days. Great post.

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  21. Great post - very well said! True words of wisdom for all of us to think about.

    . . . And thank you for writing such interesting and witty posts; I sure do enjoy reading them!

    Karen

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  22. I know Yvonne, you do have a beautifully kind soul! xoxo

    And thank you Karen for saying that! You certainly made my day!!!! :)

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