Last night something terrible happened in Manchester and twenty-three people lost their lives, twenty-two of which weren’t expecting to. It was at a concert of somebody famous, but not somebody provocative or edgy. Twenty-two people went to a pop concert to have a good time and enjoy themselves and didn’t come out again.
I’d imagine that a lot of people feel anger and disgust at the actions of the perpetrator. Feelings and emotions which are really easy to process (relatively) compared to the fear. Fear that it could have happened to a friend, family member or yourself. Fear that it could happen today in a different venue, in a different city when there’s no warning.
It’s acceptable and natural to be scared.
Life is scary at the best of times. From the moment we’re thrown out of the womb into the world and are confronted by strange creatures we don’t recognize after only knowing seminal fluid and redness inside our mothers. Attacks like last night give a sense of thrownness and discombobulation. Death and destruction happen “over there” whether it’s in the middle East or Africa. That’s a comfortable distance for a lot of us to not really own what’s going on. As attacks have become more common in Europe and the US, it’s come closer, and last night it happened on our doorstep. Manchester is a well known place, and a lot of us will have been there, may well have been to a gig at the MENA. It could have happened to us.
So today you could be feeling scared. Scared that the world in which you live in, the nice bubble, has dissipated and been replaced by something more uncomfortable, less appealing and far, far more scary.
How you process and deal with that fear will depend on how you view the world and others within it. I’d suggest talking, being honest about how you feel and looking to explore how it affects you. Channeling fear into aggression and divisive views, expounding rhetoric is one way, but I wonder if that way lies more pain, more heartache and an unwillingness to accept the world at large. As a baby we could have been disgusted and hate filled at the doctors and mother who induced our being thrown into the world, but we choose not to be, and accept at some level, that things happen we don’t like.
I saw a great post of a friend of mine this morning talking about the attack last night as being a product of the society in which we live. This is a controversial view in some levels, but is based on the idea that “we” (white western civilization) aren’t actually the “good” guys, and that situations induce reactions, and for some, the situation in the world is intolerable and they take their view out on others, in this case killing them. The reaction of encouraging war or a retaliation is born out of this; another way is to look deeply at your situation and understand what you’re feeling, and accepting that it’s ok to feel that.
It’s ok to feel a bit all over the place. It’s ok to be scared or anxious. That’s human. Be kind to yourself, and to others, and try and explore the fear and pain that’s around you.
It’s acceptable and natural to be scared.
Life is scary at the best of times. From the moment we’re thrown out of the womb into the world and are confronted by strange creatures we don’t recognize after only knowing seminal fluid and redness inside our mothers. Attacks like last night give a sense of thrownness and discombobulation. Death and destruction happen “over there” whether it’s in the middle East or Africa. That’s a comfortable distance for a lot of us to not really own what’s going on. As attacks have become more common in Europe and the US, it’s come closer, and last night it happened on our doorstep. Manchester is a well known place, and a lot of us will have been there, may well have been to a gig at the MENA. It could have happened to us.
So today you could be feeling scared. Scared that the world in which you live in, the nice bubble, has dissipated and been replaced by something more uncomfortable, less appealing and far, far more scary.
How you process and deal with that fear will depend on how you view the world and others within it. I’d suggest talking, being honest about how you feel and looking to explore how it affects you. Channeling fear into aggression and divisive views, expounding rhetoric is one way, but I wonder if that way lies more pain, more heartache and an unwillingness to accept the world at large. As a baby we could have been disgusted and hate filled at the doctors and mother who induced our being thrown into the world, but we choose not to be, and accept at some level, that things happen we don’t like.
I saw a great post of a friend of mine this morning talking about the attack last night as being a product of the society in which we live. This is a controversial view in some levels, but is based on the idea that “we” (white western civilization) aren’t actually the “good” guys, and that situations induce reactions, and for some, the situation in the world is intolerable and they take their view out on others, in this case killing them. The reaction of encouraging war or a retaliation is born out of this; another way is to look deeply at your situation and understand what you’re feeling, and accepting that it’s ok to feel that.
It’s ok to feel a bit all over the place. It’s ok to be scared or anxious. That’s human. Be kind to yourself, and to others, and try and explore the fear and pain that’s around you.
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