Rough Week
And help for Uvalde shooting victims
I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you this, but this has been a real shitty time for America. The school shooting in Texas on Tuesday was one of the saddest things I’ve heard since…the week prior when there was another mass shooting in Buffalo.
It’s insane that not only does this continue to happen (with increasing regularity), but this time it was a bunch of children, killed at school. It’s terrible no matter what but that feels extra hard to shake off.
The other problem I have, is that I feel pretty helpless when this stuff happens. Donating money to organizations is great and all, but does it really effect change? Is our money going to actually make a difference? I don’t mean to be negative but I lean towards no. Defeating the gun lobbies in the US feels like Mickey Mouse trying to defeat Thanos.
I donate anyway, because it feels better than doing nothing. And the families can absolutely use it for the unforeseen funeral costs they now have to face. See links below if you’d like to do the same.
On top of all that, Ray Liotta died today too, at the age of 67. I felt that one hard because growing up, Goodfellas was a big staple in my friend group. It shaped a lot of my adolescence (not literally, thank god, though I have sliced garlic with a razor blade before).
Obviously the death of an older celeb is not the same tragedy as a bunch of children being murdered for no reason, but it’s still sad. He wasn’t that old. And this broad sadness I’ve been feeling kind of seeps into everything else for a bit.
I was supposed to post a new video this week and I just couldn’t do it. It didn’t feel right. I know I’m supposed to just move forward but I think every now and again it’s good to take a pause. From social media, from everything.
I think I’m one of few people who do this, but when I’m sad I tend to just sit with it for a bit instead of run away from it. I’d rather try to accept it and find a way to move with the grief, if that makes sense. I think there’s this belief that you can’t do both, like it’s impossible to grieve and still move forward, but it’s not. If anything, I’d argue that dealing with loss and grief are probably some of the biggest lessons we learn about ourselves.
So I don’t know what else to say, but I know I just wanted to say that. And if you want to donate to some organizations for Uvalde, Texas and the families who lost their loved ones, see links below.
https://www.gofundme.com/c/act/donate-to-texas-elementary-school-shooting-relief
https://www.npr.org/2022/05/25/1101161673/how-to-help-uvalde-school-shooting
And this is a non-profit advocating for gun control: