Yes, I am going to blog about the tragedy at Virginia Tech that occurred on Monday, but I hope it will not be too cliched by now.
I learned about what happened while walking back from class. My friend Zach and I were walking and talking and we waved at my boyfriend from across the street and were generally having a fun time. Right after that, a friend passed us and said, "Have you checked on your friends at Tech?" and we were confused, and she explained. I was really worried about my good friend Jessica and all my other friends and acquaintances who go there. Back at my dorm, I got in touch with Jessi and another friend Matthew immediately, who assured they were both okay and that everyone else that I knew there was too. I was really relieved and thought that what had happened was horrible, but didn't give it much more thought because my parents took me out to lunch and I was busy the rest of the day.
I guess I should have expected the bombardment from all the media about it. But the extent of it was sort of unreal to me. I too was shocked about what happened but I wasn't one of the people who had it on their Facebook and in their away messages and everywhere. Yes, I wore maroon and orange on Tuesday and also Friday, and my heart goes out to those who were directly affected. But I was not directly affected - sure, it was shocking, and there is that part of you that thinks "what if..." but I try to stay away from that kind of thinking.
It just struck me as somehow odd that even people that I know were not directly affected were in such grief over this. I am not a coldhearted person, I just find it hard to be deeply sad over something that I am not a part of. The media is of course going crazy with it, and I don't like that at all. By now most of us are tired of hearing about it, and that's not the way to feel about such a thing.
But I guess my opinion of how to cope and how to honor those who've died is not the way a lot of people feel. I believe that the best thing we can do is to live our lives to the fullest, because there are so many who can no longer do that. I know that when I die I don't want people to be miserable for too long. If you know someone who died, you grieve for them properly but eventually you can't hold onto that grief forever, and it's not right to. Keep them in your heart and honor their memory with what you do. Never let the world forget, but also don't let it tear you apart. Tears are appropriate, but eventually you can't sustain that kind of emotional state.
Also it strikes me that this huge grieving process and the false empathy from the media (and from plenty of other people) sort of takes away from all the other tragedies occurring daily. There's a war that's taking countless lives daily in Iraq, and there are several civil wars throughout the world doing the same. I'm not trying to say it's wrong for us to be sad about this, I'm saying that probably a lot of people aren't as affected by it as they show themselves to be. Also it kind of creeps me out a little that people are wearing shirts that have the date on them, like it's some sort of anniversary to celebrate. And let's face it, we can support the Hokies all we like but we were not all Hokies that day - we'll never know what it was like to be on that campus. Sure we can imagine it, but we may never experience that level of fear and shock and sadness. I love you guys out there at VT, but I know I cannot properly empathize with you.
I guess my main point for you to take home is this - it is our responsibility as human beings to live for those who no longer can. So appreciate life and take absolutely nothing for granted.
