Many here know that I am a cyclist, that I get a great deal of my joy in life riding a bicycle with a dedicated group of riders. In cycling, there is a phenomenon known as ‘bonking.’ Also sometimes called ‘hunger knock’ or ‘hunger flat,’ bonking is that condition when an athlete has run out of energy - due to inadequate food consumption during the event - so the athlete can no longer hold a pace or effort level the athlete has easily held before.
Most online dictionaries do not define it, but wikipedia has an article on it.
In any case, it is a real phenomenon, and it is safe to say that no professional cyclist has completed a career without experiencing it. Interestingly (to me at least), weather can influence the onset of the bonk, and the amount of calories one must consume to avoid it. In cold weather some ‘fuel’ is burned to keep our bodies warm. For racing cyclists, this can mean that a bonk is more likely than it would be under warmer conditions.
Exhaustion isn’t restricted to the cycling community, however. At one time or another, every human being experiences physical exhaustion, having done or given as much as one can in a given circumstance.
And we have all seen movies in which our heroine or hero is seen dangling from a rope. It is a powerful film-making scenario because it is a situation which cannot sustain, and the tension grows the longer it does. Inevitably, the character will reach the point of exhaustion and have to let go. It is only a matter of time, or whatever may happen in the meantime to possibly change or influence the scenario. Barring a ‘miracle rescue,’ the character will exhaust, and fall.
The exhaustion I am thinking of in this diary isn’t physical at all, however, it is mental, it is emotional. It is the fatigue we read in the words when a Kossack melts down or gbcws. It is the breaking point one reaches when one lashes out at another, in violence verbal if not physical. Possibly the exchange will have been very courteous and cordial to that point, then ‘something snaps,’ and the behavior standard deteriorates. ‘I just couldn’t stand it any longer, I had to let go.’
Even Kossacks I respect a great deal have lamented the condition. One of my favorite diarists recently wrote a diary entitled “I’ve had it.” Another of my favorite diarists wrote a diary about trollish encounters in another (ostensibly) progressive blog, calling on Kossacks to allocate an hour a day to fighting troll battles in other blogs.
Now, before I go further I want to say that it is human to reach a ‘snapping point.’ My brother is having a series of problems with his vehicle. He has just about reached the point when it is time to part company. It is not wrong or bad to reach that point with things which should be abandoned in our lives. It isn’t a sign of weak character or anything, everyone experiences it. The challenge is in finding a balance. Discarding the things we should dispense with, keeping our focus with the things we should keep.
Yet, there are times when it behooves us to maintain our inner equilibrium. We read diaries which inflame our passions, we build up internal momentum regarding the issues and the expressions, and then the energy bursts forth like a solar flare, inflaming others in its turn. Perhaps the site will generally support our position, perhaps we’ll be in a minority position, with the weight of the masses against us. Maybe we are caught by surprise at the vehemence of a response to our diary or comment. Did the person responding realize how her or his solar flare erupted? Did the person know why the vehemence was so overpowering? How do we respond? Do we become reactive?
Do we choose to put ourselves into toxic situations in the diaries and the comment threads? Is the tone and tenor of relating on the blog getting us down? Is it discouraging us? Are we becoming exhausted by the experience we are having on the Daily Kos?
You know, in 1990 (12/8/1990), on Tom Hank’s fifth episode of Saturday Night Live, he participated in a skit with Chris Farley called ‘The Gross-Out Family.’ It has been years since I last saw the skit, and my brief search of the Internet has not revealed any significant information about it. As I recall it, it did not seem to be so much about grossing each other out, it seemed to be about a family in which no family member seemed capable of taking the word of another family member about any unpleasant experience, no matter HOW unpleasant. As a consequence, each family member was doomed to repeat the unpleasant experience the first one just had, to confirm it for her or himself.
As I replay it in my mind - and it may have differed significantly from that recollection - one family member goes to the refrigerator and finds some milk which had been in there for way too long. I see it as being milk with blue chunks of something growing in it. One family member takes a drink, spews the chunky milk across the room, exclaiming 'Oh that tastes terrible! Here!' Handing it on to the next family member, who takes a comparably big swig, spews as emphatically as the first family member, makes a similar exclamation of disgust at the horrible taste, then says here, and passes it on.
I don’t think this is a family trying to gross each other out, I think this is a ‘show me’ family, that cannot learn anything from the experience of others. Really, they learn nothing from their own experience, as I do not know anyone who would drink milk with blue chunks in it. As if the family was from Missouri (the ‘Show Me State’) to the ad absurdum extreme.
Yet, isn’t this like what happens to so many on the Daily Kos? People exhausting themselves on the toxicity and frustrations and hostile energy?
Look, you KNOW the milk is sour! You KNOW it has blue CHUNKS of whatever growing in it! Don’t drink that milk! Don’t even open the container out of curiosity. And, whatever you do, don’t ADD to the spew in public! It isn’t going to help any candidate you may support, and it isn’t going to do anything except undermine your credibility with all who meet you - here on dKos, and everywhere else you encounter human beings you hope to influence.
Would you like to break the cycle of drinking milk with blue chunks? Pay attention to what may be leading you toward a snapping point, and turn away from it. Do things you know feed your energy, rather than sapping it! WRITE more diaries! (That has been one element of my approach to this.) Frequent diaries which lift you up, which help you grow, which move you forward. Work on a campaign. Contact Elise or kath25, either can recommend dozens of creative activities which will help Democrats, which will advance progressive goals. Find something to do from one of OrangeClouds115’s diaries. The number of creative things open to you is infinite.
Don’t drink the literary milk with blue chunks others try to get you to swallow. Don’t leave milk with blue chunks in the comment threads for others to drink.
This is one of the most important times in the political history of this country. It may seem that it is necessary to respond to every trollish comment as if such a comment had the power to upset the prospects of your favorite candidate or our entire party. But the important thing is to focus on all we have to achieve. Pay attention to your energy. If you feel yourself becoming exhausted with the energy you are encountering, go somewhere else, do something else! November is approaching! ;)
Now to comments!
From teacherken:
From my diary "I've been to the mountaintop"
This comment by Chun Yang makes a real connection between King and the life and experience of her son.
Also, the comment entitled Twice by NWTerriD, wherein we also get to read a powerful and related prayer by the martyred Archbishop Oscar Romer.
From voila:
Something important is explained in this comment by Silence Do Good.
From jnhobbs:
In Darksyde's front page story "The Times They Are A'Changing?," ailanthus has this hopeful comment about the ladies and gentlemen of the corporate media.
From terrypinder:
Funniest subthread on Daily Kos in weeks begins with this comment.
An innocent post about accents from Texas Blue Dot turns pervacious.
My humble contributions:
Optimism out hunting for itself, in a comment by Bob Love.
The subversive nature of a less than pristine house, in a comment by burrow owl.
Has America become a simplistic country? jaslusher suggests it may have!
Sun dog illustrates how distraction sometimes happens. ;)
Top Mojo - excluding search-identifiable tip jars and first diary comments (top 30 of each plus ties):
1 offered in tribute to a remarkable speech by teacherken - 212
2 Good diary and I have a story to tell you. by Owllwoman - 181
3 boy that was fast - n/t by teacherken - 179
4 Jimmy Carter Had Solar Panels On The WH roof by Kdoug - 173
5 He CAN'T win because by Walt starr - 161
6 I'd like to see this come up in a future debate: by scardanelli - 122
7 Racism not talked about by redtex - 118
8 My Native American friend's son by MillieNeon - 111
9 BREAKING: HIllary Raised more than $43.1M! by Steven R - 92
10 Average contribution $ 96.00 by griz4u - 89
11 That's a lot of cash by PsiFighter37 - 88
12 Total: $42,432,000 by Steven R - 84
13 oh and.... by its simple IF you ignore the complexity - 83
14 I would think by tobendaro - 82
15 Thanks, General Clark. by Brandon Friedman - 82
16 Holy Crap! by Steven R - 74
17 Just another day at Daily Kos by phenry - 73
18 Doesn't sound like he'll say anything more by Elise - 71
19 Good catch by Drewid - 70
20 Oh, I'm not upset by teacherken - 67
21 Second that by Jon Soltz - 67
22 This is the reason... by uffdalib - 64
23 This is illegal. Contact your local ACLU by LisainNYC - 64
24 but...but....but.... by pmukh - 64
25 If Obama doesn't come close it will not be from by housesella - 63
26 The mood in Obama's NH office was grim by oldjohnbrown - 61
27 He Can't win if Hillary destroys the party by FishOutofWater - 60
28 Look on the bright side! by Bob Love - 60
29 I think the message is clear: by WisconsinJessica - 59
30 I'll tell you what I'm sick of by FireCrow - 58
Top Mojo - everything included:
1 Tips by American by Choice - 503
2 Yes. He. Can. by wmtriallawyer - 492
3 Tip Jar by whattamisaid - 343
4 Tips, recs? by wargolem - 340
5 Tip jar! by jenontheshore - 338
6 Tip jar? by echoes4444 - 330
7 Let's take PA by Must Have Been The Roses - 241
8 Outlier tip jar by DavidHG - 234
9 Tips by JedReport - 224
10 Jar o' Tips by Mercutio - 222
11 offered in tribute to a remarkable speech by teacherken - 212
12 Yes. He. Can! by griz4u - 188
13 Good diary and I have a story to tell you. by Owllwoman - 181
14 boy that was fast - n/t by teacherken - 179
15 Thanks by Wes Clark - 175
16 Jimmy Carter Had Solar Panels On The WH roof by Kdoug - 173
17 He CAN'T win because by Walt starr - 161
18 Tips for Elizabeth, and for by Dean Barker - 145
19 Ash tray by Dallasdoc - 132
20 sadly... by JackieandFritz - 128
21 I'd like to see this come up in a future debate: by scardanelli - 122
22 Racism not talked about by redtex - 118
23 My Native American friend's son by MillieNeon - 111
24 Diarist's tip jar by tecampbell - 110
25 Tips for better trolls. by gchaucer2 - 97
26 BREAKING: HIllary Raised more than $43.1M! by Steven R - 92
27 Average contribution $ 96.00 by griz4u - 89
28 That's a lot of cash by PsiFighter37 - 88
29 Yea Rachel. by Tod - 87
30 Total: $42,432,000 by Steven R - 84
Finally, one of our most special community members, noweasels, has suffered a terrible loss tonight. Please stop in and give some love?
Thank you for visiting! Please submit your comment finds, below! :)
We have so many insightful and powerful diaries written here at Daily Kos. Our diaries inform, inflame, impassion, and even entertain. We Kossacks have strong voices and an even stronger will to be the change we wish to see in this country.
