I'm going to open up this post the way a lot of bloggers have : I didn't
know if I wanted to write about the tragedy that took place in Connecticut, just one week ago today. But I felt compelled
to, because it's important to confront the things that we are running
from most.
The truth is-I didn't want to think about this tragedy. I DON'T want to
think about this tragedy. I DON'T want
to envision the faces of those children as the unthinkable happened. In
fact, for the first day, I avoided Twitter and even Facebook. Most of the
news was wrong in
the early hours that it didn't seem to matter: However, the worst part
of it
had still happened and was very real and it wasn't something I was ready
to face...It's something I still have trouble facing each and every day
as the AM Magazine gets shoved in my face with photos of funerals for 6
year olds. I can't even read the word Sandy Hook without shivers going
down my spine. I remember being bombarded with news about Columbine as a
child--and then again Virginia Tech as a college student, but the
in-your faceness of all of this seems much more unavoidable.
I'm normally all about the news--in fact, when Hurricane Sandy rolled
through, my reaction to the in your face blasts was quite the
opposite--it all felt necessary--I wanted to break information to people
as often and as consistently as I could. At friends homes, we sat
around predicting how bad it would be--what to do if there was a power
loss--and how long the trains would be out of service for. The
difference is that Sandy was predicted. We were all awaiting it--so when
it hit--we were ready. We couldn't prepare for what happened last
Friday. Unlike Hurricane Sandy, my friends and I haven't made mention in
conversation about the tragedy--and one time when i tried to bring it
up, we all changed the subject right away.
I desperately wish I could turn back the clocks and sweep up all
those children in my own arms and fly them to safety. I desperately wish
the front page of the news this past week was fiscal cliff related, and
not human tragedy related. I desperately wish this had never
happened.
But there is harm in looking in the past, and wishing things had played
out differently--in longing. It's time to heal and to protect ourselves
from other situations that might rise similar to this.
As someone disconnected from the Sandy Hook community- the questions ,
as for most,
are how can I help NOW and for the future . There are several answers: I
can get educated about gun laws and reform in this country--and then I
can educate others. I can also get educated about mental health and how
people can get help for it--and again, educate others. And then I can
do the same thing every single one of us can do : I can look inside
myself, and ask myself to be a good person, to keep my values and my
morals, and to continue treating people with kindness and love--a
message that takes only smiles and hugs to send.
To see change, we need to be the change. We can't change what happened
last Friday, but we do have the ability to change what could happen in
the future. So let's start.
