6/3/2025. #171

I wanted to focus on writing prompts but Wichita...it's crazy to live here. Today was special. It pretty much ticked off all the extremist triggers and controversial questionable demands one could possibly hold or imagine - especially in this digital age. [What would happen in an unprepared emergency?] I admit that I think about these kinds of issues more than most people.

So what happened?

There was a widespread public emergency and disaster of a city-wide flash flood event from thunderstorms. As a response, our clinic was locked down. No one allowed in or out. For example: I may not want to go somewhere but the moment someone says I cannot? Well it's an uncomfortable conversation (even in a friendly environment) and yet part of life balancing safety concerns with restraint. Autonomy matters.

• https://www.kwch.com/2025/06/03/gov-kelly-issues-state-disaster-declaration-flooding-south-central-kansas/

• https://www.kwch.com/2025/06/03/flood-warning-issued-4-counties-south-central-kansas/

• https://www.ksn.com/weather/weather-stories/heavy-rain-causing-flooding-in-parts-of-kansas/ *This one has cool videos. That I cannot seem to link tonight.

Rumors rampantly spread on SM channels and within our chatty highly socialized group. Including people being funny and using AI to enhance the already dramatic situation as they were bored and locked in. - Is that completely flooded car on a main street.... real? Because it looks artificial. Even tonight, I'm still struggling to unwind everything I read and saw as I scrolled traditional media sources and SM. Because at one point during the day, all main road routes to my home were blocked/closed. I had to seriously ask, can I get home?

Living through all that confirmed what I already knew. I just want facts as I walk through life. I am not looking forward to a meme fueled emergency response system. >Because it doesn't exist.

To be fair, I'm a highly trained safety serious person. I was married to a natural gas technician. I don't get any career credit for that kind of role but it was my life. The demands of his job were well known to me and I carried those responsibilities as well as my own until I couldn't anymore. And strangely enough this does tie into today's prompt - except I do not hold regret. I loved that adventurous and dangerous lifestyle. I'm a thrill seeker as well. And that's the problem. His daily thrills and needs - did not match up to mine. We went separate ways. And that's okay. We still share love and respect for one another. He's a trustworthy honest person that enjoys helping the public. So do I.

#171 - What do you regret the most from your adult life, and what would you do to change it if you could?

I'm answering this question with a question. ~Annoying, I know but it was on my mind for years and listening to it drove me insane. Something had to give and as it turned out, I had given enough. The question:

Will ignorance destroy your life more than truth?

I regret not settling that internal personal balance sooner. However that's a dynamically loaded question with no easy answer. Exhaustion married to a burn it all down philosophy. It's ugly, this internal war. I spent a lot of my time wondering if there was a way to turn off the awareness of it occurring. As a deep introvert, isolated by my circumstances and yet emboldened by survival confidence - I struggled to categorize grief.

Now I spend my energy propelling forward in life. I want to be there. Alive and healthy. I need truth for that kind of existence. No doubt.