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On The Subject Of Depression from Scott Benson on Vimeo.

What can I say? I'm not a huge fan of the holidays...

For brighter stories.. check here. Think I posted this last week:

And rethinking the meaning of words. I feel like I'm surrounded by people who may never understand what it is like to be poor. I work in an upscale salon where I watch people walk their purebred dogs up and down the street and rear-end one another's cars without leaving a note. They get to tell me about all of their travels, their money, their money, and their money. I get to listen to naive and obviously uneducated students rant about how people on welfare are taking their tax money, as if they really understand what's coming out of their paychecks. Or as if they understand that they are paying just as much for the war we are in and the oppressiveness we participate in as a country as they are on healthcare for single parents. Or they criticize folks on welfare while they gladly accept grant money from the state.

As Americans, I doubt we will ever understand true poverty, but if I have to hear one more comment from someone applying their judgment to a person on welfare, I may scream. Guess what? Not all of "them" are scamming the system. Some of "them" may need serious help. All irritation aside, I think we would do well to get to know one another before passing massive amounts of judgment.

So rethink your words:

On an encouraging note, I ran across this quote from Thomas Merton and am applying it to memory: "Keep me from loving money which is hatred, from avarice and ambition that suffocate my life. Keep me from the dead works of vanity and the thankless labor in which artists destroy themselves for pride and money and reputation..."

Happy holidays. And please don't talk to me about welfare. Ever.