Thanks for this post, Sari. The news yesterday was utterly horrifying, the tears are still welling up for me. Those kids, those families, that community.
I do want to add a plea, however: please don't give up on calling out those in power to do the right and reasonable thing and holding them to account. And encouraging others to do the same. While change is slower than anyone would want and can be really hard to perceive at times, please remember that it is the action of private citizens that have achieved what seemed impossible at the time, like ending slavery, enshrining women's right to vote, creating the 40 hour work week, etc. Here's a more recent example: Raphael Warnock would never have been elected to represent Georgia in the US Senate if private individuals had not worked their tails off to get people to the polls. If you haven't seen that kind of by the bootstraps on the ground work in action, you might take a closer look. It's an amazing thing to behold. So please don't give up! Write the letters to public officials, post your thoughts on social media, vote in the midterms (and help others to the same). Our kids and our country's future depends on all of us staying in the game, as flawed as it may be.
I feel that too. I normally start my work day with a Good morning to my work team on Slack, including some little tidbit of amusement or beauty or silliness or information. Faced this morning with the death count still climbing in a Texas elementary school, the two year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd, and the incredible brutality of what is effectively a genocidal land grab in Ukraine, I've got nothing. I don't feel silly or amusing. I'm beyond sad. I'm empty. Exhausted. News drained. I don't even know which way to look. So, I look at my cats and take care of the people closest to me in the best way I can.
My soul is weary of the needless, senseless, and unprovoked murders of children and adults. When are we going to really do something about this insanity? The governor of Texas is blaming the horror on mental illness and certainly that is part of it - but also isn't the ease with which an 18 year-old can buy an AR-rifle?
Thanks for this post, Sari. The news yesterday was utterly horrifying, the tears are still welling up for me. Those kids, those families, that community.
I do want to add a plea, however: please don't give up on calling out those in power to do the right and reasonable thing and holding them to account. And encouraging others to do the same. While change is slower than anyone would want and can be really hard to perceive at times, please remember that it is the action of private citizens that have achieved what seemed impossible at the time, like ending slavery, enshrining women's right to vote, creating the 40 hour work week, etc. Here's a more recent example: Raphael Warnock would never have been elected to represent Georgia in the US Senate if private individuals had not worked their tails off to get people to the polls. If you haven't seen that kind of by the bootstraps on the ground work in action, you might take a closer look. It's an amazing thing to behold. So please don't give up! Write the letters to public officials, post your thoughts on social media, vote in the midterms (and help others to the same). Our kids and our country's future depends on all of us staying in the game, as flawed as it may be.
I feel that too. I normally start my work day with a Good morning to my work team on Slack, including some little tidbit of amusement or beauty or silliness or information. Faced this morning with the death count still climbing in a Texas elementary school, the two year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd, and the incredible brutality of what is effectively a genocidal land grab in Ukraine, I've got nothing. I don't feel silly or amusing. I'm beyond sad. I'm empty. Exhausted. News drained. I don't even know which way to look. So, I look at my cats and take care of the people closest to me in the best way I can.
Very well Sari. That we keep repeating this pattern is the greatest tragedy of all.
Thank you for these links. I just don't understand our country at all.
My soul is weary of the needless, senseless, and unprovoked murders of children and adults. When are we going to really do something about this insanity? The governor of Texas is blaming the horror on mental illness and certainly that is part of it - but also isn't the ease with which an 18 year-old can buy an AR-rifle?
Yes, good post.
Thank you. A moment of silence is an action that leads to more focussed actions.