I’m still, like so many others, trying to process what happened in Vegas last night. It seems so unreal that someone would want to hurt and kill so many innocent people. I was just hanging out on Sunday night when I opened my Facebook and saw a friend post that she was okay but she was next to someone who had been shot. I had no idea what was going on and quickly took to Twitter and turned on the news. I was immediately enveloped in fear, terror, and sickness. Why, why, why? How? I can’t grasp it. I stayed up for hours watching and reading coverage. My heart broke over and over again. It broke for everyone there who was part of this tragedy whether they were witnesses, injured, or tragically lost their lives. It broke for the loved ones of the concert goers. It broke for the city of Vegas. It broke for our world.
My heart also broke for the mental heath world trying to break the stigma. This was a terrorist attack plain and simple in my opinion. I write this blog proudly wearing my label of suffering from a mental illness but after last night my fear has grown to so much more than a fear of crowds. I’m scared people will group those with a mental illness in with this terrorist. I’m scared that people will look at me with my mental illness label and wonder if I’m capable of acts of violence. I’m scared that people will be looked down upon for suffering from something out of their control because of what this man did. I’m just scared.
I’m sending all my love to Vegas, the victims, the witnesses, their loved ones, the mental health community, and the world. Praying we can use this horrible act of violence to come together and spread love not hate.
Until next time. 💔
