[care for a swim?]

The gnarled evergreen monotonously reflected the mirrored rays from the clear mass of water. A simple portrayal of the rocking motion of the waves, the regular beat that gives the mass life. The penetrating ultraviolet rays coming from the burning star emphasized the existence of a pattern, a delicate weave of order that should not be disturbed.

But then came the day, when the winds dwindled, the clouds rushed in search for thirsty grounds elsewhere and the sun peaked high and proud, like a queen’s presence over loyal subjects. The day came and came again without warning, an event repeating itself with no pattern or relation. The mass of water did not understand why – for the mass of water only understood the monotonous pattern that gave it life. But the day always arrived, and with it, chaos.

Strange bodies, foreign to the mass of water, surrounded it carrying auras of careless happiness and excitement. Danger, cloaked with the mask of earned self-satisfaction by the intruding bodies. The mass of water seldom remembered the alien’s intentions; yet it never forgot the pain. The disruption. The time it took to re-establish order. The longing for peace once the day comes. All the rest is just relative, common, general, and regarded as unimportant.

The mass of water cannot think otherwise, because it was built to be so. Built by the very hands of those who break the monotony of rocking motion and perfectly mirrored rays over the surface.

As devastating as it sounds, that is truth. It’s the way media works.

Yes. Imagine media, as the backyard pool, as this so-called clear mass of water. Reflecting attention to every minimal detail, occurrence and curiosity that surround society. Appearing to be crystal clear, but totally tainted with toxic chemicals, dissuasive cleaners, corrupted pills, shady treatments, whatnot.

Like a pool attracts bathers in a hot summer morning, media captures a simple – many times horrid or controversial – event and turn it into the local/national headlines. As a matter of cause-and-effect, this creates chaos and disrupts the “normal” course. And once a bather gets into the pool, it is very hard to have the bather get out suddenly.

Althoughmedia was created to expose every minimal detail, occurrence and curiosity in a regular beat, it naturally tends to attract chaos and disruption.
Although manipulated by humans, media has a life of its own and many times it has fought back against those who go to far.
Although technology has granted media to evolve and develop, media still behaves as a mass of water.

As we know it, the mass of water will always need a filter to regularly clean out visible impurities, will always need somebody to watch over it, will always be open to any bather who seeks an easy way to pass the time. Care for a swim?