Writers block

As many of you may have noticed there has been a severe lack of updates recently; for this I am terribly sorry. Yet I still can't find a topic that I feel is really worth writing about, so I shall write about having noting to write about.

Writers block: the fear of all writers. That mental brick wall that dams the flow of creative ideas. You think you've over come it and have written a few lines after hours and hours of sitting down and thinking only to find that those lines were the last of a weak trickle of creativity that had escaped the wall only to stop as suddenly has they began. The writers block can last for different lengths of time for each writer. Some cases it may only be a few hours or a few days, for some weeks or months may be taken over by writers block, and in some extreme cases writers block lasts years until finally the writer gives up and becomes a banker or an accountant where you have to deal with numbers, not words. 

Is there a cure for writers block? No one knows for sure. There are plenty of home remedies that writers have discovered for themselves, like listening to music, meditation, reading, stepping away. Yet none of these are guaranteed to remove writers block completely, and it almost always returns, lurking in the shadows waiting for you to get on a creative streak before stopping you dead in your tracks. 

For those of you with writers block I wish you luck, and for those of you with friends you have writers block I wish you luck too for you will have to deal with the nonsensical ramblings of a writer with no ideas. 

A Helping Hand

The human race likes to view itself as one of grace, compassion, and love. While these traits are very present in our lives there are still moments when these traits are completely forgotten. Now I'm not talking about wars or even the violence that is found in so many of our planets' streets. No, I'm simply talking about helping another individual in a time of need.

I'm sure everyone out there has helped someone in their time of need. But I am willing to bet that this person has been a friend, family member or even just an acquaintance. It is very rare to see someone stop to help a complete stranger in a time of need. Yes there will be cases when a big natural disaster occurs and the community rallies together to help each other. However apart from these times, how often do we see one-on-one help?

I have 3 cases where help was desperately needed yet none came. One case happened to a friend of mine. One I found while reading a blog and the third, I regretfully admit, I was a bystander in.

The first case happened to a very good friend of mine. She was extremely sick at uni and decided to go home, yet as she reached the bus station she became violently ill. She was able to make it to a rubbish bin but no further. She was just sitting there too sick to move, almost crying she was in so much pain. Yet not one person stopped to help or to ask if she was ok, they merely continued walking past occasionally giving a sympathetic look. I find this just shocking that not one person would stop to help a young girl who was obviously distraught. Eventually she gathered enough strength to call her father who was able to pick her up. 

The second case comes from a blog I was reading. In this blog the woman tells a story of how she brought her 2 year old son shopping with her. Now anyone who has had a 2 year old will know the difficulty that and outing might entail. Yet she was able to keep her son happy by letting him wear a head band of hers. When they reached the shopping centre many old women and young girls made comments on how cute the young boy was. The boy was loving the attention until a man dressed in a short sleeve camo short and cargo pants walked over from the hunting section (it was an American blog and this occurred in an American store). The man strolled over and asked if the child was a boy or a girl. The mother informed him the child was a boy to which the man laughed and replied that's a boy?? The mother was shocked. This was when the man reached toward the child removed the headband and giving him a tap across the head saying you'll thank me one day. The mother was furious, not only had this man laid a hand on her son he was now telling him how to dress. A small argument followed which ended with the man leaving the store saying your son's a fa***t and I hope he gets shot. To hear this about her own son was too much for the poor woman to take and she broke down. She started to cry and yet no one came to comfort her or to ask if she needed help. I'm still shocked that this could happen and no one would do anything.

My third story is an incident that I witness and still regret not stepping in. I was just finishing work (around 9pm) at my local shops when I heard a small argument from outside of the shop. Poking my head out I saw a very very large man screaming at his very small son and then proceeded to lift him by the arm while striking him. I wasn't the only person to witness this as the screaming was so loud many other people stuck their heads out of shop doors to see what the problem was. It wasn't until afterwards did we realise we should of stepped in and said something to this monster of a man. At the time I think everyone was frozen to the spot in fear, too scared of the man to intervene.

We say we are a species of love and compassion so lets show it. Next time you're out and you see someone who might need help stop for a moment to check on them and make sure they are alright. Who knows, maybe one day you might be in the same position.