Back to the real world
My family and I just recently got back from a wonderful trip to Ludington, Mich. to take care of my grandpa’s ashes. It’s the first time many of us have seen each other in about three years or so. We spent the week doing whatever we felt like doing and not worrying about having our time planned out to the last minute.
I now realize just how much I miss having vacations. Our family used to routinely take a summer trip up north nearly every year. But for what seems like a decade, that hasn’t happened because of schedules and budgets. I had forgotten how much I love to go to new places and spend time hiking around enjoying the fresh air. But the best part is spending time with family away from the pressures of careers, home repairs and the like. You get to see the real people behind the stress and catch up on everything from home renovations to engagements. The daily runs to the infamous Park Dairy House of Flavors for the best ice cream on the planet weren’t bad either.
I’m posting several photos in this entry from the trip, NONE OF WHICH CAN BE USED BY ANYONE BUT MYSELF FOR ANY PURPOSE IN ANY FORMAT WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM ME. Okay, legalities aside, here are some of my favorites.
Sunset over Hamlin Lake where we rented a few cottages right on the water.
A seagull taking wing at the water line on Lake Michigan.
Lake Michigan on an absolutely gorgeous day with hardly a cloud in the sky.
Some very cool fuzzy logs keeping the stones of Lost Lake in the Ludington State Park from eroding. My mom loved this one.
The S.S. Badger making it’s way back to Wisconsin and into the coming sunset.
Sunset over Lake Michigan after we spread my grandfather’s ashes in the sand dunes.
But now it’s back to reality. I miss the lake already.
Growing pains
I’ve been working on my senior thesis project over the last few days which involves researching ways to increase newspaper readership in the age of electronic media. Then it hit me today while writing about the introduction of the World Wide Web.
I’m GRADUATING.
In a little over a month I’m going to be set free upon the world and left to my own devices. I won’t lie – that thought honestly scares me.
When did the world get so big? That kid song lied. This so totally isn’t a small world. It’s huge and open and intimidating. My place has always been at home with my family and friends or at school studying. And now I have to step out of that world and into a career. But before I’m able to start that career, I have to tread that shaky bridge between the small world I’ve known my whole life and the next world that I’ve never been introduced to. I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m only 22 for crying out loud.
But I know my journalism field. I know how to work within it quite effectively. I know that I really do know my stuff. I’m graduating with high honors for heaven’s sake. So why wouldn’t I be able to fit into the workforce? There’s really no reason why I shouldn’t. It’s just a lot unfamiliar territory and anyone could be scared of that, right?
The current economy is also creating chaos with my ability to cope with the upcoming freedom. Journalism is already one of the lowest paying fields right out of the starting gates. And because of electronic media, employers are cutting back right and left. Will I be able to get a job? If so, will I be able to keep that job? Am I going to be able to get married, get a dog and eventually have kids? What the hell am I going to do if I can’t? There’s all these unanswered questions circling around my brain and no one seems to be able to provide even half-assed answers.
I miss the days when it was simpler. I never realized how good I had it coming home from only a half day of kindergarten to a peanut butter and jelly lunch waiting for me made with love from mom. We would watch Little House on the Prairie together before my sisters got home and I’d have mom all to myself. I didn’t have to worry about money or having a roof over my head and clothes on my back. I didn’t have to worry about what’s for dinner or when I had to go to work. All I concerned myself with was being sure to ask everyone in my morning class if they would be my friend and making sure that the afternoon student who sat at my desk didn’t touch my stuff.
I don’t want to move out of Michigan and away from my family, but that’s a very real possibility. My parents have been my rock through everything and it’s downright petrifying to think that I might not have them easily accessible face-to-face. They were there when I got my first B+ and calmed me down when I was shocked and upset. They were there when I was being threatened by a crazy ex-boyfriend in the seventh grade. They were there for all the miseries and frustrations of high school and my first job. They got me to college and let me abuse their washing machine and raid the pantry at home. And my mom still turned on my heated mattress pad this winter when she knew I was coming home late from work to a freezing-cold house.
I guess the whole idea and everything that goes into it is overwhelming. Let’s face it – I’m overwhelmed by reality.
Reality TV in reality
I’ve been taking a class about electronic media. The last chapter we read dealt with the basic workings of the various kinds of television. Under the programming section, the authors listed a number of reality TV shows. That got me to thinking.
Is reality TV really real?
All the brain cells I possess say no, quite vehemently I might add. I’m sure I’m not the only who’s noticed that some of the supposed “reality” shows seem completely scripted, or at least planned out. So much of reality TV seems faked or planned. And what confuses me is that it is such a prevalent form of TV programming. Since it was first introduced, it seems like every other show is deemed reality TV.
But even if the show is based on reality, are the people acting the way they normally would? If I knew that cameras were following me around and the entire country would be judging me, I certainly wouldn’t be acting normal. I’d be sure to be on my best behavior. And even if I wasn’t, knowing that people that would be watching would certainly influence how I would be reacting to different situations. I suppose that could be called real but it wouldn’t be real in terms of my own reactions under normal situations.
And there’s always the shows that pick their characters based on their attitudes and problems, hoping that they will clash and create drama and increase ratings. The sad thing is that it works. People get onto these shows with the sole purpose of creating problems for the other participants to make things more interesting. Sorry… I’m not interested.
It never ceases to shock me how many people are addicted to such shows. I find them pretty irritating and, quite frankly, lower than pond scum. Granted, I do watch some reality shows. But you’re more likely to catch me watching animal rescue programs than the 50th run of Survivor. I like something with a little more substance than seeing who can eat the most bugs for their team.
