I am stil processing the violence related to mys tate senator (Creigh Deeds of Virginia) last month....

Maybe all I can do to process is pray for more love and healing and peace in the world. I am at a loss....

God grant me the serenity.....

I have no other way or chance to change that , that has already happened. I can only effect change in my own corner of the world. My heart to the families of those lost. That I understand.

I like burying my head in the sand. Ya know, like the proverbial ostrich.

The media and gossip networks kick into high gear over events like this and I feel like I am popping shared anxiety pills. I figure none of those anxiety pills can hit my beak if I keep my head buried till if blows over. If am meant to be involved, something will ruffle my tail feathers.

I usually process these event with prayer and often lots of tears...

Leo, I get what you mean. That was a really brutal incident, as if others aren't, but it was. My thoughts are with you as you process that one.

I hear everybody, and you're right: there's nothing we can do. This one got my attention from its geographical proximity to me, like 51% said about Sandy Hook to her.

I teach Death and Dying classes at a community college from my years as a hospital chaplain. It's great to help equip nurses in their bedside manner that way. It's not a morbid class at all, it speaks to how to do hospice work well, surround patients with caring people.

But this mall shooting gave me a little ugly fantasy that one of these shooters might show up to my class and say, "I'll show you some Death and Dying! Boom."

Ugly dark thought. Just wanted to get it out here on a Sunday night so I wouldn't carry it into work at school tomorrow.

i can't process

the reason i'm here is because of gun violence. assault rifle.

after sandy hook, when everybody paid a bunch of lip-service, but absolutely nothing changed, i had to admit that to expect anything different makes me a complete fool.

i pray for change a lot.

what arfie said...
i mostly avoid the news
these days.
seems to me that it's mostly fear mongering
on the news.
and i don't really need extra fears added on to the ones i
already have.

Me too... I stopped paying attention after Sandy Hook. That was a new low for me with the media. As a teacher, knowing that there were the red flags with Adam Lanza YEARS ago, but nothing wlas done, save for Mom yanking him out of the system... I just can't get started about it...

Random acts of violence??? I use it to remind me that life IS a beautiful gift with no guarantees of its longevity. Smell the roses; eat chocolate; life live with integrity and pride; use glitter and sequins... All that unicorns and rainbows stuff... You never know when it'll be your last day. To me, that's liberating, not scary.

Hugs.

I had this thought...
My therapist asked me in our first session, about a year ago (before my memories broke out, I just had general anxiety issues).... "Do you watch the news?"
I said, "No. I read a little online, then click away."
He told me he PRESCRIBES that to anxiety and PTSD patients. No TV news, not even radio news, not talk shows. Read a few quick headlines if you must, then on with the comics, the puzzles, the sports, anything but the anxiety-inducing stuff.
I quit watching in 2012, haven't missed it a bit. The print news is less imbued with the "cues" the anchors are trained to project, so we get less upset by it, and can take our own time to absorb it, walk away.
Just a random thought.

Mojopaw, yes Sandy Hook caused a lot of lip service with no real results, didn't it? I therefore try like Deli not to pay too much attention that won't be rewarded, but this shooting happened close by and got through anyway. Just guess that's life in these United States nowadays.

I'm planning to retire in Uruguay. Ironically, it's now more peaceful THERE, if you can believe that. I had to go back last summer and see it with my own eyes, and it was true. Would just like to be in a peaceful interior town, wear a sweater and a beret, play dominoes in the plaza with other old guys, argue about soccer. Had enough violent entertainment in my life, to put it mildly.

Come on down....It's odd that a place like Uruguay that had 6 years of civil war and 12 years of Dirty War for a total of 18 destructive years would be peaceful now. But it's the most peaceful place I've visited this side of heaven.

Everyone my age there shares the memory of 18 years of hell on earth in our dear little Uruguay, too. So it seems like there's now a generation of people there who've learned their lesson, from the president on down. He was shot six times and then was tortured for 12 years.

This peace in Uruguay, too, will pass. It seems that humans don't pass the lessons of history down that well. I wrote a history book and it made its little mark, but it doesn't close the matter. It seems that to learn to really respect how hot the stove is, we need to put our hand on it for ourselves, despite the warnings of our elders. Looks like the ones who want to put their hand on the hot stove over and over right now are certain US people this time. I don't know.

In my generation that went to 2 wars back to back in Uruguay, we didn't listen to our elders. So we can't really expect the kids in our own Uruguay to listen to us forever as to the mistakes our generation made with so much violence when we ourselves were young. And the US is so far away from Uruguay's lessons, why would lessons in an obscure little country so far away make an impact here, right? Even if they do represent the human condition.

But by the time the memories for the reasons for peace in Uruguay fade again, geezers from my generation from there will be wearing sweaters and berets and playing dominoes and arguing about soccer on some plaza in heaven, I hope. As for me, any part I may have had on this side of heaven, small as that part was, will be done.

I don't pray for reincarnation, but rather, for rest in peace. We'll see what happens.

Muji,, I have no words of comfort really, just understanding.

Trigger Warning.....We had just moved to a new state where we still live now, when a school shooting occurred at the high school where my step-daughters were attending high school. This was in 2001, right after the really bad shooting in Colorado so I'm not sure how much national attention it received. But the nearby high school had a shooting first, then the school the girls attended had a shooting like 2 or 3 weeks later. Two kids were killed, 20 inured and 2 or 3 teachers as well. The girls weren't hurt and they didn't know anyone well as we had only been here a few months, but they won't talk about it to this day and act like it's no big deal. Neither ever wanted to return to school. How do you even process something like this. Schools, malls, movies, churches, they should be safe not a war zone.

It's difficult to process when it hits so close to home. And hard to feel safe in a place that truly isn't. I'm sorry you had to feel it so strong this week. I just try to remember myself that these are the rare events and not normal. I hope you can find some peace today.

I listen to NPR ALL the time. I think they do a great job of informing without sensationalizing. They also have balanced povs and have MANY interest stories. I don't recall being set off by them... More than anything, I have those "driveway moments" where I don't want to get out of my car! Sundays are the best... Lots of advances in science and technology... Radio Lab is awesome.

My principle had to come into my class and called 911 on my student because he refused to listen to me. Three cop cars came and he got taken out in handcuffs. No violence, but it's kind of scary... who knows what that dude's state of mind was...

What I HATE is, if you want to kill yourself, hey, go for it... But why on EARTH do they go into a public place and take random, innocent people with them??? Violent cowards...

Pain has to find an outlet, I guess.... I am processing that I am the recepient of it from my abusers, but this is hard stuff for me.

My mom tells me that the pain we feel in this life? Is our purgatory. So when we pass on, there's only peace. Nto exactly Church doctrine, but I find comfort in it. No reincarnation into *this* again. Only into something good.