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| Image from http://quotespictures.com/returning-violence-for-violence-multiplies-violence-adding-deeper-darkness-to-a-night-already-devoid-of-stars-hate-cannot-drive-out-hate-only-love-can-do-that/ |
Heavy heart.
Like many of you, I’m overwhelmed with the world’s tragedies
and the ongoing shitstorm of idiocy. I
don’t know how exactly to process the inundation of daily stories detailing horrific
events occurring. The racism,
homophobia, ignorance, hate… I’m so frustrated that the world is still plagued
with this. I hope there will be a day
when I read the news and am not greeted with a story of violence in Shanghai,
casualties in the Mediterranean, and the absolutely senseless mass killings in
my own country.
A week ago, my good friend lost her son. His story was all over the local news due to
the dramatic angle of the recklessness of another person causing his
death. He was a victim of being in the
wrong place at the wrong time. People who
commented on social media about how sad it is won’t remember the story in a
month, but everyone who knew her son will forever be affected. The story devastated me. She and I had been talking about her son
recently and she was telling me how she hoped he would be able to find his
path. He was 19 and trying to figure out
what he wanted to do with his life when he was killed. I keep thinking about the moment when her
life went from “normal” to a person in mourning. Forever in mourning. It makes me tear up as I’m writing to imagine
getting that phone call, her driving to the hospital in a panic, and being
told it’s already too late—that there’s nothing to be done because he was
already brain dead. It hurts to think of
the details. The person who purposely
crashed into his car, going over 60 MPH over the speed limit wanted to end her
life and was willing, in that moment, to use another vehicle to accomplish that
purpose. However, the opposite happened
and she’s alive and the two people in the other vehicle are dead.
His death brought so many people to their knees and it’s
really made me think how each of these senseless killings has such a large
impact. Each person’s life has such
value.
It’s sad that “world peace” is commonly just a punchline in
jokes about beauty pageant idealism. Times are dark. They are.
There’s no use in burying our heads in the sand and pretending
otherwise. When will the conversation
move away from fights on social media toward what actions can be taken to make
this better? I only know that, even on a
small level, we have some power to move towards peace and to not let these
things darken are souls to where we throw our hands up. We’re all in this experience together. It’s time to ask critical questions.
What would happen, how would the tides shift if we began to
bring more love, compassion to the mess of our lives? A sea of change begins with one. I met with a healer once who directed me to The Four Agreements, a book by Don
Miguel Ruiz. She suggested I read the
book and asked me how different the world would be if we all followed these
four simple agreements. I’m just going
to leave this here. And think about
it. How would the world look if each of
us made these agreements with ourselves?
Because it has to start with us. And
I’m not ready to give up.
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| Image from http://thepolyman.com/2011/06/the-four-agreements-summary/ |
