I have read too much Hiromu Arakawa (A selfish post on tragedy)

“And now, I'm thinking again, isn't there something we can do about something we can't do anything about?” - Edward Elric

Right now, the cycle has begun again. Senseless violence. Mass killings. Tragedies upon tragedies. Then people respond: first with fear and shock. Then sadness and sympathy. Then anger. Then suspicion. Then self-righteousness. Then judgment. A week or two later: apathy.

Oh my, you say. Don’t pay attention to just Paris. Look at Palestine, look at Syria, look at this place and that place. Look at all the tragedy in the world and try and feel something and make it relate to you, even if you’re not the victim. Because if you don’t, you’re heartless and not human.

Ugh. 

Read the news people. People die every day. Innocents are killed, the evil murder and destroy, every day, everywhere. It’s not that all these things are happening at once on some eerie day. It’s you that has suddenly become incredibly aware that it’s happening.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t feel sad. Or angry. Or afraid or hurt or shocked or numb or sorry. You are human. There will be emotions that you will feel and thoughts that you will think of. That’s how humans work. We respond to the world around us. 

I’m saying, don’t shut off your awareness after a week. Don’t shut off this response once you’ve posted a status on it, or changed your profile picture to whatever you want to show solidarity.

Don’t shut off the awareness that we need to do something, that we need to start being part of the solution.

Stop praying for a hero or a solution. God has placed us here. What are YOU doing?

But, you say, I don’t live in Paris. Or in Beirut. Or Japan. Or –

Stop.

Didn’t I just say it’s happening everywhere? People are suffering everywhere. That includes where you live. That includes the people around you: at work, at school, at home, etc. Whether you like them or not, they are humans. And all of us, one way or the other, need help.

Be the solution for them. Be kind, be generous, be loving. Go all out, even for those you dislike or afraid of. Stand on your own two feet and use your own two hands to reach out to others.

I’m not saying it’s easy. I’m not saying it’s pleasant. But it’s something you can do. We all want the world to be a better place. We all also acknowledge that we’re small, helpless humans.

But if all of us helpless humans moved our weak hands together…wouldn’t that be better than nothing?

And the first pair of hands and feet that you can move, are yours. 

“Stand up and walk. Move forward.” - Edward Elric

To all who suffer: ... it's difficult to find anything suitable to say, but...

Stay strong.