In 2007, after the Virginia Tech shootings happened, I wrote this post. The other day, after the Connecticut elementary school shootings, I couldn’t really bring myself to say much of anything — not here, not on Twitter, not on Facebook. I discussed it briefly with my co-workers and my friends. I read hundreds of posts by others. They ranged from poetic to sympathetic, from inspiring to just devastating. But I couldn’t think of anything to say.
You see, as I get older, I feel less and less comfortable expressing my feelings on the internet. But, social media is a funny thing. Because after I didn’t say anything, I started to feel guilty. I spend so much time posting my pretty pictures, writing my silly stories, and sharing my daily outfits, and I don’t want you to think I’m so self-centered that I don’t care about anything else in the world. Because I certainly do.
I read a post on Facebook that was (supposedly) a statement made by Ben Stein in response to the tragedy. Then I read on Snopes that it was (mostly) fake. And then I realized why I couldn’t think of anything to say. Because nothing I say in this particular instance is going to make anything any better. Anything I say is just going to add to the noise and make it more difficult for people sort through the clutter and find something meaningful.
And then, after awhile, I found something real. I found this post. And now I have something to say. Read this. Read what this mother has to say in response to Friday’s events because what she has to say seems so much more important than what most of the rest of us have to say.
