Having a Firm Grasp on Reality

In this blog I want to ruminate around the idea of what it means to have a firm grasp on reality.  We humans in many places in the world have just experienced and still living another series of mental and physical body slams wherein for many reality involved/s one's prospects of surviving, or not, as the case may be.  Or having to witness others in that predicament in one way or another through our modern media.

In the not-so-distant past the natural order of things was taken for granted and those who questioned that order were considered to not have a true grasp of reality.  More-and-more people, over the years, have started to question what they have been told to believe about world events.  Currently, such suspicion seems to be the norm.  I, personally, have been a follower for some time of the, "question authority school," but now find the growing refusal to believe anything people have been told surprising.

Adding more abuse to our sensibilities has been yet another murderous attack carried out by individuals whose behavior can usually only begun to be understood in terms of derangement, rather than personal beliefs.  In this instance, it seems we have just been made witness, once more, to the product/outcome of absolute fanatical belief in a world view that justifies the destruction of those who hold another world view.

As to the natural world, once it was the held belief that natural events were out of human control, or influence.  Those who still hold this belief, refuse to consider the possibility that humans have had any part in what have been considered the workings of nature.  None-the-less, dealing with what have been called extreme, "natural events" has become an all-too-common occurrence. 

Additionally during this period we have learned about more catastrophes caused, seemingly, by human malfeasance in one form or another.  As evidence of a growing inability to believe the given answers, there are others who refuse to accept such given causes, and lay the blame on more sinister explanations. 

Some of those who believe they have a firm grasp on what is believed to be reality call themselves, "Realists."  According to UrbanDictionary.com a Realist is one who has, "...a firm grip on reality and can see things for what they are, not what they are told they are.  Realists have their own views and do not fall victim to propaganda, misconception, or titles!"  Unfortunately, I suspect most Realists, to one degree or another, subscribe to a Scientific Belief System, and have a leaning toward skepticism, in general.

The Boston Marathon attack has been the most recent assault on my consciousness, as to inexplicable human behavior.  While natural catastrophes, and those disasters that appear to have been the result of human cupidity, we humans seem to be able to set aside as something to be endured, whereas, deliberate human acts of violence against other humans are harder to absorb and put into perspective, at least for me.

In general, I try to avoid subjecting myself to coverage of such events, at least while they are happening, in contrast to many who glue themselves to the most recent event, trying to sort out fact from speculation.  Unfortunately, this was not possible for me this time. In addition to being exposed to TV coverage, being connected to the Internet facilitates having the input of many different opinions, in this instance, the recent Boston Marathon assault.  As a result, I also have a concern about what our sources of information report to us regarding this particular event.  For example, I read that the evening of the day after the attack, the police were involved in a, 5-8 minute "fire fight " with the second brother. who, wounded, had taken cover in a boat in someone's back yard.  The reason I question the official version, a more recent newspaper article reported that officials state the younger brother was unarmed!  Also, the first instance of a major metropolitan area being locked down, with door-to-door searches of residences, setting a dangerous precedent.

Clearly, the family and friends of the perpetrators of this horror, are reeling, unable to square what they have believed formerly with the new reality presented to them.  Likewise, we who have been bystanders are also left reeling, attempting to understand the inexplicability of this and other such events which have taken place during the recent years.

And so, regarding having a firm grasp on reality, my question is, is it possible to gain any sense of coming to terms with such events anymore?  In this blog, I have suggested that one try to gain a position of as-if-true regarding everything that one once believed as facts.  More-and-more, I am confirmed in this stance, that, in order to maintain some semblance of sanity, it is best to have a wait-and-see attitude regarding what we are currently experiencing as reality.

With such sad thoughts, I end this blog.

Shirley Gallup