Paying attention

Random Girl has a heavy heart following the news of the bombing in Oslo city centre on Friday and the simultaneous massacre of at least 85 people on the island of Utoeya. Without question, there are many travesties occurring in the world today, many of which affect greater numbers of people. The drought in Somalia is a prime example, where a significant proportion of the country’s population is in fact facing death by starvation. I have followed such things on the news and been mournful of the circumstances these people face. I am saddened by all of it, and that sadness makes me appreciate every minute of each day.

I suppose this particular event in Oslo weighs particularly heavily on me because of its relative proximity to where I am, and, more importantly, that the root of the destruction was entirely man-made. There was no hurricane or blazing fire or earthquake to blame for the tragic events. Nor does it appear to be an act of retribution on the part of any fundamentalist regime. If the evidence to date does indeed prove that this shocking event was the random act of the single suspect in question, then I think it will be a longer, possibly never-ending journey to try to reconcile this demonstration of our absolute potential to destroy one another. In this case, that the inexplicable actions of one person alone could so greatly devastate the lives of so many. The course of their lives now permanently shifted in the short period of approximately one hour. One person did this?

Earlier this evening, I went with P to the Norwegian Embassy in Copenhagen where we paid our respects silently amidst rows of flowers, candles and fellow mourners. The beauty of the scene, I must say, was almost discordant with the sorrow of the occasion. It was both breath-taking and heart-breaking to see such a glorious array of colours placed along the pavement, and to share an awareness of the collective sacrifice of an unquantifiable number of families and friends, and nations. I thought of how many people standing there might have suffered a personal loss and tried to measure that against my own sense of deep anguish, despite not knowing any of the victims myself. I suspect there are many similar scenes to be found around the world right now and that by tomorrow, the collection of tokens will have doubled, if not tripled.

As heavy as this day has felt, RG also feels angry. I cannot fully articulate how much I hope this serves as a yet another reminder to all of us to pay attention to what we have each day, and to cherish all the goodness to be found in one another. There is always the potential for any life to turn on a dime suddenly and irreversibly. So many of us take such things for granted, especially when it comes to how we treat others in our normal day-to-day. To look at everyone around us as another human being with a complete life around them, even if you only stand behind them in a queue. Here at least is a good opportunity to remember how much we should be aware of one another's importance while we also show solidarity for those who have truly suffered or lost. It could be those suffering in Norway, or those in Somalia or wherever else in the world where the struggle of life is literally that…a struggle to live. We should also be more attentive to the small kindnesses of others and those moments when we are actually remembered or cared for. Why should we? Because when the day comes we all have to face our mortality, we will see these are the things that really qualify our lives. If we truly have an awareness of this, we should all be able to complain a lot less about a lot less!

I’ll grant that it sounds as though RG is writing this with one foot on the soapbox (and I write this while 'karaoke night' down to road echoes past my window), but the thing is, I really believe it simply should not require such a tragedy to remind us of everyone else we share this little space with. Every day should see us to step up our own sense of accountability to others. It’s unfortunate to me that more often than not, this is what it takes. It’s less about just feeling bad when something bad happens to someone else, but making sure we don’t insult those who really do have it bad, by bitching about trivial things such as the temperature of our drinking water because of what our privileged a**es feel we deserve. This ought to give people greater perspective because yes, it really could have been you or someone you knew out there that day, or you that has to walk miles for a sip of water, (and I guarantee you, if you manage to get any at all, the temperature of the water won't mean a damn thing.)

Someone on the news today said that “if one person can cause so much destruction, consider how much love the rest of us together could create.” Cynics may roll their eyes, but to them I say, head up to Utoeya and see how cynical you feel then. RG isn't religious and doesn't follow any specific doctrine or creed, but simply believes our duty and fulfilment in life, not only in crisis but everyday, is to demonstrate care for life itself - paying attention to it and others as much as possible, as often as possible. Because we still get to have karaoke night.

Peace to those who have perished, strength and comfort to their loved ones left behind.