Moths to a Flame

I drove through Youngstown again today on my way from Austintown to Warren and found myself drawn again out of curiosity to the site of yesterday’s fire. My father mentioned earlier today that it had been the Youngstown Mattress Company, and he’d heard something on the news; some information from the Vindicator is here, if you’re interested. No one was hurt, which makes me feel better about my mad urge to take photos.

In LiveJournal we were discussing why people are drawn to disaster the way I was (and in other, more perilous or more intellectual ways). I got three really interesting comments and I’m not going to link to the LiveJournal accounts in question, just to preserve privacy, but let me know if ya’ll don’t mind and I’ll link here.

There were very valid points: That a) people want to know if a disaster is going to affect them in some way, including the worry that there are family or friends involved; b) people want to help, to make a difference, and when presented with the opportunity they will make that attempt; c) people are aware of the sensationalism and scandal surrounding any disaster and want to be able to say they were involved or nearby when it happened.

The ones that struck a chord with me, however, were the following: That d) people are drawn to things that are different or new, things outside our normal experience; and e) the fascination with destruction is a human trait, especially when there is no personal stake or responsibility attached.

For me, these are really pertinent. I know why I went toward that huge pillar of smoke. It was Big, and it was Powerful, and it had Energy. It wasn’t the badness of it, or any kind of goodness I saw in it – it was completely neutral and completely primal. I am absolutely drawn to things and people with these qualities, because they speak to something within me that feels that it is Big, and Powerful, and has Energy. The primal goddess Megan – the World Megan. (Hey, who knew I was heading in that direction, huh?)

To a lesser extent, I wanted to know what was going on so I could tell others. I believe strongly in the power of bloggers to spread important news and I do want to be a part of it if I can. I don’t think the Media as an entity or even most news sources available process and provide information quickly enough for our particular subsect of internet addicts, and that’s something bloggers can remedy with a little vigilance!

I do have some photos of the gutted wreck of the Youngstown Mattress Company, and I’ll post those when next I have my camera connected. I feel very sad for the fellow in charge and I hope that somehow he is able to make up for this whole awful situation. If I hear of any pertinent donation opportunities, I’ll post that here too.

Thanks for your thoughts, my darling LJ friendsies (including Dave Klegman, who mentioned that he didn’t mind a link!)

Tagged as: Blog