The View from a Drawbridge

Tag: tragedy

  • Having a Bad Day? Think 536.

    Going straight to the fiery pits of hell would have been preferable to living at that time.

  • A Voluminous Tragedy

    When books burn, they tend not to stop.

  • Tragedy Bias

    This non-white tragedy barely caused a blip on anyone’s radar.

  • Try Not to Let Go

    I was sitting cross-legged on my friend’s bed. Cozy. With popcorn and gossip and a mountain view. We hadn’t done this since college. I’d missed it. “How did she die?” I asked. “I never knew for sure.” My friend paused for a long time. Then she said, “Everybody had the flu that winter. I mean,…

  • Compassion

    Compassion, defined as the “sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings and misfortunes of others,” is something you either have or you don’t. At this moment in history, perhaps more than any other, it is obvious that no fence-sitting on this issue is acceptable. Pick a side. Own it. One shouldn’t have to have experienced…

  • Feeling Helpless About Syria

    Unless you live in a cave somewhere, you know what’s going on in Aleppo, Syria right now. And if you’re like me, you’re feeling pretty darned helpless about it. People are being slaughtered and I’m looking at my empty guest room. I’d take them all in if I could. I’d stack ‘em up like cordwood.…

  • Lack vs. Abundance

    There is an interesting human spectrum that tells you a great deal about people. I call it the generosity spectrum. But it also has a great deal to do with trust, confidence, kindness, and a sense of karma. At one extreme, you have people who are so wide open that they put themselves at risk.…

  • One Slap at a Time

    I am convinced that the reason so many violent and/or abusive people in this world get away with their bad behavior is that we have a tendency to break things down into separate incidents. If you look at a wife beater’s conduct one slap at a time, for example, it should still be considered unacceptable,…

  • Ping Pong and Paris

    I was in my car when I first heard of the horrifying, senseless, heartbreaking series of events that occurred in Paris on Friday the 13th. I had to pull over to process the many thoughts that I was having. Concern for all my friends and family who live in the area competed with sadness that…

  • Tragic Nostalgia

    As I write this blog entry, I’m watching video footage of the eruption of Mexico’s Popocatépetl volcano. It’s about 50 miles southeast of Mexico City, and I have been on its slopes. It has erupted about a dozen times since then, and it always brings me back to that long ago visit. Although I didn’t…