The state of our society right this moment incredibly saddens me.
- The situation in North Dakota where there are two sides of the story (of which I don't feel I know enough to make a stand, BUT.... shooting people with water cannons in the middle of winter in North Dakota sure doesn't sound like a wise idea to me.... and causes me significant concern for folks on both sides as this escalates)
- The various police officers around our country who are targeted by simply writing tickets or sitting in a coffee shop on their break or....
- The officers who try to keep people safe in their own homes and are shot and killed
- The families of those who have lost so much sense of themselves and allow themselves to get so out of control that they pull guns and use their young children as shields
- The families and friends of those who have to now deal with the inexplicable grief - both from the officers as well as the shooter (it's not the fault of the families)
- The officers who have to stand on the roof of a hospital to try to safely remove someone who's mental illness is out of control...and try to get him the much needed help before he or someone else is harmed
- The children who watched their dad kill a police officer yesterday, be held hostage by their dad, see hundreds of first responders around their house and know that their dad won't let them leave, then watch their dad get killed many hours later (early this morning) by other officers in Tacoma
- The children in Burien, who went to school today, only to go into lockdown and hear the bang, bang of bean bags being shot at the man on the hospital roof...just hours after hearing about the situation last night in Tacoma
- Or the first responders and hospital personnel who were/are on the front lines with all of this. The ones who still kept working because there were other lives to be saved.
- Or the domestic violence victims who are now terrified to call for help out of fear that this could happen to their family and/or other officers as well.
WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON?! My heart aches. It grieves. As a clinical social worker who has worked and still works in the mental health world as a career....who has worked closely with many first responders, with domestic violence victims and perpetrators, worked in a prison with someone who was deemed too dangerous to be released.... As a friend to family members of police officers, who works with officers and other first responders on a regular basis....As a friend to teachers who have to try to instill some calm to their students.... I see both sides. I honestly do.... What I also see is that WE. ARE. OUT. OF CONTROL!! It has been said that Black Lives Matter. It has been said that Blue Lives Matter. It has been said that this person is a victim or that person is a victim. YOU KNOW WHAT?! We're all victims in this. However...we can ALL have control. We can ALL show love and support and encouragement. We can ALL show gratitude. We can ALL own our own attitudes and behaviors. WE ALL MATTER!!
And, for the record, I don't want anyone to be pointing fingers at this year's election. This has been an escalating issue for several years now, which means it is not a political issue. It's a heart issue inside of our society.
How about we start a movement to be encouraging and loving to one another? How about we go up to a stranger and let them know they matter? How about we let a first responder know that we sure appreciate them? Here's one... How about, when we hear someone bashing another person, or a politician, or the police, or or or...that we ask them of what they think can happen to fix it? Then let them know that's a great idea and encourage them to take the steps to let their lawmakers or other policy makers know. Instead of building up the animosity, how about we try to be positive, encouraging, uplifting and try to make a peaceful difference? It CAN work.. We can become much less violent. Honest. Let's try..... PLEASE!??!?!
all contents (c) 2016 Laura Inglis
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