Feeling Philosophical ...

It's hard not to be a little more philosophical and pensive these days... The book I'm momentarily reading, current events, the movie I watched last night and reality tv all had me thinking. I really feel very sorry for the people of Haiti, they had a terrible start to the new year and it's possibly one of the places in the world that could handle an unfortunate event like the least. The majority of people there weren't exactly well-off as it were and what with the bad infrastructure, humanitarian organizations have a hard time getting supplies to those most in need now.

I find it unbelievable that somebody ( I mean you, Pat Robertson! ) would suggest the Haitians deserved the earthquake because they made a pact with the devil when they bought back their island from France for 150 million. Not only does nobody deserve to experience this kind of tragedy and misery, but also it was not the devil, it was bad politics and too big a price tag on independence that bascially sealed the unfortunate fate of this Carribean country. It was poor to begin with and simply couldn't afford this sum paid and the republic went downhill after that, so the Haitian poverty is not the work of the devil, not that I believe there is such a thing.

To fittingly quote the spokesman of the White House: "It never ceases to amaze, that in times of amazing human suffering, somebody says something that could be so utterly stupid. But it, like clockwork, happens with some regularity."

Instead of concentrating on the obvious bad though, I would like to point out the good: this kind of disaster also brings out the good in many people and this needs to be appreciated! Apart from all the donations and world-wide sympathy, it's the aid workers on site and their tireless search for survivors that make all the difference. They still managed to salvage buried people from the rubble over 100 hours after the eartquake, even though people usually can't survive more than 72 hours without fluid. Talk bout miracles and keep hoping and helping!

As I mentioned I feel as if I'm surrounded by things that somehow touch me at the moment, no matter how random they are. For instance the MTV show "16 and pregnant" which then turned into "Teen Mom" and which follows around these young girls, trying to cope with having become young mums. Obviously people's opinions on this couldn't vary more but that's not what I'm concerned about right now. It's this really young couple from the show, Catelynn and Tyler, that has moved and brought me to tears several times. They come from difficult familial backgrounds and are often ating more grown-up than their own parents. Tyler's father is a convicted criminal offender and married to Catelynn's mother, but the 2 teenagers are from previous relationships respectively i.e. in no way related, don't worry. When Catelynn falls pregnant they decide to give up their baby girl "Carly" for adoption and it's certainly not an easy decision. You witness their heartache and dilemma and although the 2 of them are deeply in love and have the strongest relationship out of all the couples on the show, they want better for their child and for her not to grow up living in a trailer surrounded by a grandfather who's in and out of prison all the time. Surprisingly their families aren't very supportive of their decision and more naive than the teenagers. These are two remarkable young people and I wish them all the luck in the world and that they will have a great relationship with their little girl, whom they both love dearly.

I had never really given adoption much thought because you usually hear about adoptive parents rather than birth parents. The common perception seems to be that giving your child away is a purely selfish decision and that the parents mustn't have loved their child but this couple clearly showed that this is not necessarily the case at all. Full episodes are available on mtv.com and I can only recommend you watch it sometime...

Just like I can recommend the movie "The Invention of Lying" which I watched yesterday. It's funny and entertaining but unlike some other rom-coms it makes you think as well. Especially about what we really want from and in life, not what other people might expect us to do. That's a lesson I was just recently reminded of myself and I'm a strongly believe that you should follow your heart and believe in your dreams, I really do. It's only if you're happy within yourself that you can make others happy, too and what could be nicer?

The title of the book I'm reading is just as intriguing in a similar way ... kinda creepy. It's Cecelia Ahern's "Book of Tomorrow" and so I'm asking you: If you had to write your own book of tomorrow, what would it say, what are your dreams for the future?

I told you I was in a philosophical mood but I think I got it out of my system now.