A Punching Bag, Literally Speaking by Wil Hough
This week I learned that the most diminutive of my granddaughters, a fifth grader, had punched out a boy at school. I am certain he deserved it. Needless to say, neither the school nor her parents were happy about it. However, I suppressed a secret smile. Back in the day, society didn’t frown quite so much on the use of self defense in solving personal disagreements. I do not doubt the direct corollary involved here between emotional/mental distress and the inability to unload the pressures of life on a deserving punching bag, whether literal or allegorical. With no other way to bleed off the excess pressure, it’s no wondering so many of us erupt in such spectacular fashion these days.
Indeed, I wonder how non-writers manage to deal with modern life. Fortunately, we writers have not as yet been deprived of our release valve—creative writing. I say “not yet” because there have been several instances of teenage writers being suspended from school for “inappropriate” subject matter. One such high school student, given an assignment to write a horror story, used a school shooting as his subject matter. His intention was to show the futile, stupid horror of all sides of the issue. Instead of having his creation hailed, he was suspended, investigated by the police, and subjected to psychological testing.
How insanely macabre! And sadly, how predictable was this response from those posing as educators. While it should come as no surprise that I, the resident heretic of these environs, would lock horns with the intellectually pedantic and constipated governors of modern society, let us consider for a moment how writing works. When I cannot take "it" anymore, like right now, I sit down and create the classic straw man, a villain I can set up and take out my rage upon. Does it not work that way for you? I am certain it does.
Granted, students require a certain amount of directional control. Teaching an aggregate of young intellects, or a lack thereof, can be much like herding those proverbial cats. However, instead of blindly reacting with a one-size-fits-all protocol, would it not be better to treat such a flash of insight as the classic teachable moment? These days it seems educators have become little more than bureaucrats who, at best, frown upon independent thought. But that’s another subject for a future blog entry.
Ain’t we just the fortunate little literary buggers? Writers have the perfect outlet for keeping their emotions in balance. We do not act out our frustrations. We illustrate them. Only those without such a release mechanism, who build up emotional stress until they crack like an overburdened fault line, take down those around them. Afterwards, all the unfortunates stare about in wonder trying to piece together what happened and why.
So, the next time you are tempted to "kick the dog" out of frustration or give in to your road rage, stop and think about it first. Instead of simply "losing it," and everything else you hold dear as a result, draw yourself a mental picture of a likely target. When I’m being read the riot act by someone, I like to picture myself in a Batman-type graphic novel complete with BIFFS, DOINKS, and WHAPS. Then at the earliest opportunity, I sit down and beat the living crap out of a keyboard. After which, I decide whether to delete or publish my ranting. Who can know where this kind of initial expression will lead in terms of developing a character or story line, or where it will not lead? As for those kids that got suspended for their writing skill, we’ll probably be seeing their by-lines in the future.
Wil Hough is Poetry Editor and Graphics Editor for Rose & Thorn Journal.
Good for your granddaughter! K.O.!
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That was so great! Excellentcommentary on what it means to be a writer, self-expression, and the gift of using our emotions in a creative outlet. Bravo!
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