If you’re anything like me, the last month has taken a huge toll on your psyche. The successive wrath of three major hurricanes, followed by the unprecedented evil perpetrated by a crazed gunman have kept us reeling. The loss and devastation has been unimaginable, and most of us are processing it on top of whatever personal challenges we already had in our own lives, or the lives of those we love. But amid all the horror, we’ve also witnessed amazing heroism and endless acts of kindness and service to those in need. And generosity, oh my, the generosity of Americans has been unbelievable. Mercifully, as crisis usually does, each one has unified us…at least for a minute.
Unfortunately, most Americans these days seem more comfortable being divided; uncivil discord is our new normal. Sadly, our brief spurts of harmony do little to heal our deep wounds. While it would be easy to do, I have no intention to use this forum for political commentary; there’s already enough of that swirling around us.
That said, as I sat down at the keyboard, I felt like my typically snarky or often narcissistic blogging about my relatively charmed life had the wrong tone in the wake of all these tragedies – if not for you to read, certainly for me to write. But hopefully, in the coming weeks we’ll catch a break from further disasters, and my ramblings will seem less insensitive in the context of more ordinary times.
