Kristin Do you remember?
I imagine you do.
In fact, I bet we all remember what we were doing when the planes flew into the Twin Towers. And probably what we were doing when the shooting happened at Columbine High School in 1999.
But how about some of the other school shootings over the past few years? Do you remember?
When I first learned about the Sandy Hook Shooting on December 14th, 2012, I was at the airport in Florida, waiting to fly with my then 12-year-old nephew and 9-year-old niece back down to Bolivia. They’d flown up as “unaccompanied minors” over Thanksgiving, and I was flying home with them as their “guardian” and spending time with my sister and the rest of her family over Christmas.
I saw the story on the news at the airport and froze –mouth dropped open, throat closed up, tears in eyes, classic faint response– and then worked hard to keep the kids busy and active while we waited to board our plane (so they wouldn’t see the news on the thousands of TV’s spread throughout the airport.)
It was all I could think to do in the face of that devastating tragedy: protect the children.
But there have been SO many shootings at schools since then. And shopping malls, synagogues, churches, and more. And to be honest, I couldn’t even begin to name them all or remember what I was doing when I first heard about them. Can you?
No?
That is a huge problem.
Here’s a List of JUST the Schools:
We should be outraged!!
But instead, most of us feel hopeless. Or worse, beyond hopeless, way over on the other side, into apathy.
What can we do? It’s so easy to be overcome by a sense of hopelessness, and feel like there’s nothing you can do. But there is!
It won’t solve everything, of course.
But don’t forget Clarissa Pinkola Estes wise words:
In any dark time, there is a tendency to veer toward fainting over how much is wrong or unmended in the world. Do not focus on that. There is a tendency, too, to fall into being weakened by dwelling on what is outside your reach, by what cannot yet be. Do not focus there. That is spending the wind without raising the sails.
We are needed, that is all we can know. And though we meet resistance, we more so will meet great souls who will hail us, love us and guide us, and we will know them when they appear. Didn’t you say you were a believer? Didn’t you say you pledged to listen to a voice greater? Didn’t you ask for grace? Don’t you remember that to be in grace means to submit to the voice greater?
Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely.
–Excerpted from: Clarissa Pinkola Estes
So what can you do? Take action. Stretch out to mend the part of the world that is with your reach.
Taking action wakes us up!
Suggested Actions:
1) Call your senators and representatives and demand (politely, it’s their staff who take the calls) to know why they are stalling on the gun law bills.
Here’s how to find your local representative.
Here’s how to find your local senator.
Want to learn more about these specific acts that have stalled for two years?
HR 8
HR 1446
Not sure what to say?
Here’s a script I stole from a friend (who stole it from a friend …):
“Hi, my name is _____.
I’m a constituent from [STATE], zip code ____.
I don’t need a response.
I’m concerned about the lack of a senate vote on The Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021, H.R. 8 and the Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2021, H.R. 1446.
I strongly encourage Senator _____ to please support a vote and the passage of these two acts.
Thank you for your hard work!”
2) Glennon Doyle‘s organization, Together Rising, said this (& more) in an email I received today:
“Right now, our team is finding a way to turn this heartbreak into action.
Every penny we receive this week will go to provide support and help protect our families and babies from living like this, and dying like this.”
She does good stuff in her organization.
3) Take care of YOU and your loved ones. Calm your nervous system. Here’s one tool.
Subscribe to my 25 Day Kindness Challenge here. I wrote this several years ago, but it stands the tests of time and sorrow.
Don’t sit glued to the news. It doesn’t help, and it can hurt. (I wrote about that here.)
Feel frozen? Triggered by your own history? That’s completely understandable.
70% of the world population experienced psychological trauma at one point in their lives! 61% of adults in 25 states (so the real numbers are certainly much higher) experienced an “adverse childhood experience” or ACE.
Reach out for support.
My new program, “Unlock Your Sacred Soul” helps women get the ground back under their feet FAST when they feel like they’ve been upended by a big loss or change. [Apply for your “Get Grounded” Strategy Session here.]
I’m sure there are more actions you can take if you do a little web surfing. But these suggestions can get you started. The important thing is to ACT.
Prayers for the Brokenhearted
And finally, if you are heart broken, here are two prayers from Mirabai Starr’s wonderful book of prayers: Mother of God Similar to Fire.
I find these prayers to be comforting. I hope you find comfort in them as well. [I’m sure Mother Mary won’t mind if you call on Mother Earth or Kuan Yin instead –or as well. We need all the positive Mother energy we can get in the world right now.
