The horrific events that happened in Boston yesterday and their aftermath continue to haunt and sadden me. I have felt saddened, slow, & somewhat distracted all day.
However, I am proud to see people focusing more on the acts of heroism than the act of "terrorism."
Gina, of fitnessista.com, posted this link of people being awesome & I read it and cried on the Brown Line.
While I was at the gym today, I couldn't help but think how much I LOVE working out and how it makes me feel-and how much I take that for granted & just expect to be safe and sound (other than the usual soreness that accompanies a killer workout) while I do this thing that I love and has become an important part of who I am. Running the Boston Marathon is the penultimate honor for a runner-I can barely run a mile and I know this. I can't imagine what it feels like to have your passion so deeply fused to a traumatic event. It makes me angry and sad and heartbroken to think about these runners, achieving what is likely a lifelong goal & having the sheer joy of that stripped away from them in such a heinous way.
I told a friend I wanted to hop on a plane and set up shop and do crisis counseling with people...the same thing I wanted to do after Newtown. I had a professor in grad school who was a "first responder" for therapeutic stuff like this. SO COOL. One day. ONE DAY, I will do that.
I love therapy and psychology and working with people. I'll likely eventually work with all types of people-the best humanity has to offer and likely the worst (I'm a Rape Crisis Counselor...I see the results of the worst...but I also see people offering love, support and dedication to the survivor-whether it is in the form of police, detectives, nurses/doctors, or their friends...I see the best too). It is so easy to see the evil and want to give up on humanity (& I admit, I did text Candy "WTF is wrong w/people??" on Monday evening) but I just...can't. The comedian Patton Oswalt said it best here, stating "So when you spot violence, or bigotry, or intolerance or fear or just garden-variety misogyny, hatred or ignorance, just look it in the eye and think, "The good outnumber you, and we always will."
THAT is what we should all be clinging to. And, I think, it is what people are trying to do now: trying to not let the evil win, trying to not let ourselves get discouraged, trying to not let the pain and fear and paranoia whoever did this was hoping for to take over.
Yes. As a country and even as a world, our hearts are heavy and sad. Yes, we experienced a horrific trauma. BUT, we are not letting it defeat us. People ran toward the chaos. People ran to hospitals to donate blood or help out in some fashion. People opened up their homes to total, complete, strangers. THAT is why good will always trump evil. Because as Patton Oswalt said, "The good outnumbers you." THAT is why, no matter how much we may say "I have lost faith in humanity" or "I give up on humanity" we really don't. Because people like the people in Boston, in Newtown, in cities all over-big and small, people want to help. People want to make a difference in a GOOD WAY. Until we are no longer able to spot the good and see the good in people, we CAN have faith in humanity.
No comments:
Post a Comment