Life

I've neglected my blog quite badly of late, home, college, work and generally life have all been so full on, that my poor old blog fell to the bottom of a great big to-do list!

But I am back and this returning post might be a bit scattered and if it is I apologise but I have a head full of thoughts that I need to express somewhere so you lucky folks that read this get to have my first returning post that might just be an incoherent mess!

The awful tragic event at Sandy Hook Elementary got me to thinking....A LOT!

Firstly like everyone else how awful and devastating the loss is to all those poor families, that poor community that has had their entire lives turned upside down by one very sick individual. I can't even comprehend the pain and utter despair they must be feeling but I also gave thought to the family of the perpetrator of such extreme evil, what went wrong that he thought that this was the answer? Were there signs? Could something have been done to prevent this? Questions that I'm sure others are asking too but that family too are suffering not only loss but the knowledge that they will surely be blamed and victimised for the actions of one of their family members a guilt that they too will have to live with. Obviously my first thoughts are with the families of those brave teachers and poor little children but I just think that the others involved deserve a thought too.

And when that dreadful news came on the radio, TV and now the newspapers I couldn't help but wonder if the exposure by the media of these mentally ill perpetrators actually gives them a forum to do these hateful things? We see time and time again when these awful things happen the name and face of evil splashed across every TV and newspaper and we know and remember the names but how many of the victims names do you remember? Now I'm not completely blaming the media but I have to wonder how many of these sick people have seen the attention given and thought to themselves I won't die a nameless loner I shall share my pain inflict it on others and instead of being invisible be remembered by all! They don't care that for eternity they shall be known as the face of evil I think they just care the they will be known! That's why I shan't even mention his name but I urge anyone reading this to go and look for the names of the victims and remember them!

And for me it made me realise the important things, I hugged my children a little tighter and all the worries that I had about money being tight this year and the fact that I can't afford to get them much suddenly was put into perspective. We are a consumer driven society driven by the media to think that we need these material things or our life might be less than if we don't have them! The reality is material things get broken, lost, devalued. Life is about experiences, it's the memories that we can keep forever or at least as long as our faculties allow! So this Christmas I shall do something to spread kindness, I shall spend time with the people I love and I will hope to instill those same values in my children who might not be opening the latest gadget or thing but will be sharing a meal in a warm house that will hopefully be filled with joy and laughter and gratitude that we have what is important.