As I write this blog entry, the world is absorbing the
newest story of another mass shooting in the United States. Considered the worst mass shooting in US
history—the event at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando Florida, has once again
shocked and stunned us all. As with
Columbine and the “Theater Shootings”, the media is rushing to cover the
stories and bring us ongoing updates about the event. Our hearts go out to the victim’s families, to
the first responders, to the businesses that will be affected, closed, or those
that may live in fear of copy-cat offenders, and to our GLBTQ community which has
shown great strength and determination over the years to maintain pride and
hard-fought-for rights.
When stories are reported of tragedy like this, or of other
forms of murder, violence, pain, and of course mass killings, it can be quite
stressful to listen to, especially if you are the kind of person who is mesmerized
by the rapid reporting and constant flow of news that comes from “special
updates” and “special reports” that may go on for hours. Many have actually opted to not even listen
to such news stories because it upsets them so much. But we can’t close our ears and eyes to what’s
happening around us in the world. When crisis
and tragedy strike, and the media is pumping our minds full of the
play-by-play, gory details and play-backs of every police report and eye-witness, it’s important to have a game plan in place to limit unnecessary and repeated
exposure to information, and then find positive outlets in which to send the
energy generated by our fear, pain, disgust, and anger in a positive direction, where we can try to gain some sense of balance again in a sometimes confusing
and unpredictable world.
First, when tragedy strikes and you’ve tuned into the TV or
Internet to find out what’s going on, be sure to limit how long you are going
to spend getting the basic information.
Watching the news, reading a few versions of the story, and possibly noting the basic photos among the media should be enough for you to get the basic story and
details. One thing you don’t want to do
is stay tuned in to a non-stop bombardment of stories for hours on end of what they
know now--that they also knew an hour ago, and an hour before that.
Second, don’t go to the other extreme of isolating yourself from
the information completely. We cannot
hide from the reality of the world and doing so leaves us at risk of being a
part of the crowd that never learns from tragedy because we refuse to
experience our tiny part in it and learn the lessons it has to offer. Get the stories and basic information, limit
the time exposure you will allow for hearing repeated stories, and then let
yourself begin to process the information.
Finally, once you’ve had some time away from the repeated
media stories, you can processes how you feel and what you think of the information you have in order
to decide what it means to you personally, what lesson or lessons it holds for you, and
most importantly, what positive action you plan to take to make a difference in
the world based on these conclusion. For
instance, as I type this, hundreds have lined up at various locations in
Orlando to donate blood needed to help all the surviving victims of this most
recent shooting.
Maybe you know a friend, neighbor or acquaintance in the
GLBTQ community you can call or email to give your support, rather than sitting
in front of hours more of upsetting news or just shaking your head believing it’s
someone else out there that will do the comforting.
This is how we get out of our heads, where all the thoughts are swirling that lead to increased stress and anxiety.
In the end, take positive steps to move forward and take part in making change in the world. Tragedies will continue to come. How you react to them may make a big difference in your level of stress and anxiety
It was Gandhi who said, “Be the Change You want to see in
the World”.
Thanks to James Hill for the great photo - Pride
