My mind doesn’t seem to want to rest, with the feelings swirling between the magic of the spiritual world and the wounds of the 3D world. Another school shooting. You can use the word ‘horrified’ but shocked no longer holds true.
Where were his thoughts?
With it brings a fierce fight for weapons control. He was barely eighteen, but they were easy to get. He posted on social media a half-hour before he did it – but it still happened. What was he thinking? Was calling it out publicly his own cries for help in stopping it? Was he hoping he would be stopped? We may never know the whys of this devastating tragedy, but the impact will be felt for generations – long after it leaves the news and laws are fought over to change it. So many are left dealing with the scars. We need to hear and understand what their cries are about in order to create that change we so desperately seek.
Not a child, but not truly an adult, he did not need to look hard to find adult examples of the same anguish and rage. That is what we need to address. He died not knowing that living in the wounds is not the only way to live. The sadness for all stays with me.
We must look deeper
The key to this is not solely with the guns – it is also understanding the anguish of the perpetrator to solve the issue. This flamingo wants to be an ostrich, but we can’t – I can’t. We have to understand to change it, and the act is so horrifying we don’t want to look. It feels too close to compassion. We are not comfortable with that. Hearts and souls are being wounded – lives are being torn apart and taken. We are not powerless to stop it. We have generations screaming in anguish and we see nothing but pain and punishment. We have to look deeper.
When we live in our anguish and rage, we allow evil to take over and a path of destruction is what it brings. It happened here, it is what’s happening in Ukraine and countless places around the globe. If we don’t live near it, we don’t want to continually hear about it and we even label it as political so we can detach ourselves from the suffering. Out of sight, out of mind – until it comes too close for comfort. That is not how we heal from it or how we reduce it from happening.
We need to see the pain and understand it. Those bullied explode and become the ultimate bully. But what causes the bullying to begin with? The one being bullied is not the cause. It is the careless words of those reflecting their own wounds who inflict the damage. What is it inside us that causes us to judge another simply to hurt them? Why do we feel compelled to inflict the wounds on another? “If you don’t heal what hurt you, you’ll bleed on those who didn’t cut you.” There’s an awful lot of bleeding going on.
Who becomes the bully?
We create anti-bullying policies but have no idea how to correct the behavior, so we merely punish it, or turn a blind eye to it. Make no mistake – it’s still happening today and adults can be the loudest voices of it. If you doubt that, just look through a bit of social media comments. We can do better.
Our Impact
“Be Impeccable With Your Words” is the first of The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. So much bloodshed could be prevented if we put intentional effort into that. Our words can be a sword that eventually spills blood without us even realizing they held that power.
It is not a fault or a judgement, but rather a responsibility of us all. Instead of letting our emotions of it lead to more division, let’s learn to use our words wisely for each other. It is the only way to stop creating wounds with them. In the words of Peter Clarke, “Be kind out there”.
Written by Melody Belliveau
The Social-Commentary.Com 