Good morning, friends. It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted. Life, you know.
Today my heart is so full, the only way I can move on is by letting someone else hear my thoughts, so here goes nothing.
Let me start by saying that I’m an optimistic person. I wake up every morning thinking that today will be better than yesterday, and I actively work to keep that mindset all day.
While what I’ve said is the absolute truth, let me tell you just how difficult it is to keep a stiff upper lip these days. Anxiety is high in all sectors of society, and it’s no wonder why.
War and suffering in Ukraine. Outrageous price increases on everything from gas to groceries. Rising inflation. Stagnant wages. Worker shortages. COVID. Supply shortages, including baby formula. Rising home costs, affordable housing shortages, and homelessness. The rising cost of all insurances. Book bans. Scapegoating. The hopelessness of politicians' apathy, avarice, and hate.
So, yesterday, when I was affronted once again by the news of another school shooting, I didn’t have a lot left to give. I have become numbed by the never ending onslaught of tragedy and pain. As a parent and as a person who works in a school on a daily basis, school shootings are a terrifying reality of life. I don’t allow myself to fully embrace what such a situation would mean for me personally, but let me just say that I always know the closest exit to whatever room I’m in and the safety drills are unnerving. It’s better to be prepared than to be sorry.
But, when I looked into the faces of the ones I love the most, I was undone.
Absolutely bereft. I was crying at 5am this morning, and try as I might, the tears wouldn’t stop. No amount of crisis fatigue could erase my heartbreak.
This recent school shooting has been the 27th school related shooting in 2022.
Myself and my entire world go to school each day. It’s so much for my brain to process, it doesn’t. It’s unthinkable. It’s unfathomable. Yet, here we are.
Where do we possibly go from here?
SOMETHING NEEDS TO CHANGE
