October 1, 2017. This date will now go down in the history of the United States as one of sadness, tragedy and injustice.
On October 1st at a country music festival in Las Vegas, Nevada, a 64-year-old man brutally open fired on the crowds. As I’m writing this response, the death toll is up to 58 people, making this the largest mass shooting in U.S. history. More than 500 civilians were injured.
I’ve written and rewritten this response multiple times and the conclusion I have come to is this: there are no words great enough to express the confusion and sorrow that occurs after hearing news like this.
These acts of domestic terrorism are not new to the United States and I’ve been alive for quite a few of them. Each time I struggle with mourning. Mourning for these victims almost feels wrong or maybe a bit insensitive because of their proximity to me; it was not my mother, or my best friend or the love of my life that was lost. What right do I have to mourn these people when their friends and family are devastated? What right do I have when they’re strangers to me?
As I’ve grown, I’ve come to realize this: no, these victims aren’t my family. They’re not people I’ve grown to love or people who have stood by my side. But these victims were that person for someone else. These people who lost their lives to this injustice could have been someone’s son, or someone’s fiance or someone’s best friend. Each person lived a unique life with his or her own values and contributions. And even though, to me, the victims remain strangers, we’re still connected. We’re all human, on this earth to love, and to learn and to live the best lives that we can for the time we’re here. So, even though I don’t personally know the victims of the Las Vegas shooting, this mourning and sadness are real, and there’s space for them. It’s okay to feel these things for people you’ve never met. It’s okay to have a heart so full that it breaks when you see others hurting. You’re not overstepping boundaries or crossing a line; you’re being human. And it’s okay to hurt when humanity fails.
For many people you might be like me and these victims may be strangers. It feels like a cloud of helplessness has covered me. I can’t change what happened, I can’t directly help these families and I can’t heal the wounded, and raising awareness for the tragedy through Facebook posts feels like nothing in comparison to the wound our country has suffered.
There’s only one thing I can think to do in the face of hatred, and that’s to love people with a new ferocity that can’t be explained. Tell people the things you admire in them. Call your Mom and Dad and tell them you love them. Hug the sibling you always fight with. Remind your best friend how special they are to you. Kiss the person you love every time you see them. Complement the women in front of you in the grocery store line. Say thank you and mean it to people who go out of their way for the little things. Find the good in every person that you meet and wake up each day knowing you’re blessed to see another one.
This is the only way I know to honor these victims. In something so heartbreaking, the only response from afar can be love, and love in the name of those who have been lost. We’re reminded again that nothing is permanent.
Our lives are too short to be wasted in hate.