This week–whoa. What a week.
It’s weird, when there’s huge national news and you’re supposed to keep working and try not to let things interfere with what you’re doing. But it’s inevitable. I know that it’s meaningless, in terms of current reality, but I grew up in the Cambridge, MA area, my mom worked at MIT and I went to the same high school the currently missing Boston Marathon bomb suspect went to. My dad and I and assorted friends would go each Patriots’ Day to watch the Boston Marathon. Many of my friends are still there, or at least have family there.
It’s a darn good time for escapism and happy thoughts, if you’re not actively involved in helping (and if you are–wow. You are a hero).
So I’m going to grab a romance, have some tea, and listen to my favorite song*:
*Yes, I know it’s a Rihanna cover, but I prefer this version SO MUCH MORE.
Tragedies tend to depress me (not just in the casual sense but in the medical sense) so I have to carefully balance keeping up with the main news and doing things to help me keep my inner peace and keep taking care of my family. It’s important to help if we can but if we’re not situated to help directly in a particular tragedy, we can still try to make a peaceful world–in how we vote, how we raise our children, how we are with the people in our communities.
I remember having trouble getting back to writing post 9/11, but much later I got fan mail about the book I wrote then, from a woman experiencing a personal tragedy. She told me romance novels helped her get through rough patches.
That reminded me of how important it is to bring beauty and light into the world whenever and however we can. It’s not frivolous. It’s an act of faith.
I was at our Retreat this weekend and so had a distraction, but I stopped to see what was on the news every time I passed through the hotel lobby. Even the Retreat couldn’t stop me completely from paying attention.
It must be so much harder for you, Megan. This is way too painfully close to home.