This week, instead of a full blog article, I am sharing a reflection I wrote last Thursday, March 25th, coming out of the news of the shooting in Boulder, CO.
My brother lives there, and thankfully I had already heard he was safe when I woke up and heard what had happened, but was still very shaken up with the news of another mass shooting so soon after Atlanta the week before…
I hope that my words help if you, too, have been having a hard last couple of weeks, but are also looking to honor your full range of feelings, which includes gratitude and happiness, not just the hard ones like grief and anger.
The last week has been a lot. like many, waking up and seeing the news about the shootings in Atlanta and Boulder left me in complete shock and feeling heartbroken.
It’s truly too much to process. I don’t even think I’ve fully processed it—at this point it feels more like numbness, because this happens all too often.
For days after these senseless events, it sometimes feels wrong to enjoy anything happening in my life. There are families hurting, loved ones who will never get to be with their parent/child/sibling/friend again, and collective grief and hurt.
Then on my afternoon walk today I listened to a great podcast with Abby Wambach and Brené Brown that gave me some small sliver of inspiration in this weird time. They talked about the important of having gratitude but at the same time demanding change. It captured perfectly how I believe we can all move forward after events like this without getting paralyzed.
Abby shares in her book, Wolfpack; “be grateful, but do not just be grateful; be grateful and brave, be grateful and ambitious, grateful and righteous, be grateful and persistent, be grateful and loud. be grateful for what you have and demand what you deserve.”
The quote hit me at the right time. I absolutely believe gratitude is really important, and on weeks like this it feels really hard. It can be easy to numb out and forget what we have, when everything just feels too heavy to carry.
But what if it can be both. What if we can feel grateful AND persistent in fighting for what we feel is deserved for every human (equality, safety from guns, inclusion, to name a few)...
Grateful that our loved ones are alive (if we are so lucky) and then use our anger and hurt to fight for the things we care about changing?
I’m not sure that’s the magic solution to all of this hurt and pain, but to me it feels right. finding small little things I can be grateful for (like a sunny day and some gelato) while also supporting causes I care about who are on-the-ground fighting for things that matter most to me.
It can be both, even when both things feel hard.
Take care and stay safe, friends. Prioritize your mental health extra these next couple weeks. Our bodies and minds are holding onto a lot.
Sending a lot of love your way!
