Well, here we are –one month after the tragedy and I continue to reflect and revisit my feelings when meeting someone new – or with old acquaintances. The conversation often turns to “Did you know anyone involved directly in the shootings?” or perhaps “how did it affect you personally?” I wrote before about wanting to set the intention to do something different as a result and I’m going to follow-through by listing some of the action steps I’m taking based on events here in Tucson.
What I love about Tucson and what is represented so well in a recent article by NPR’s Scott Simon is the following: “Tucson has character and characters. It is home to an engaging mix of retirees, hipsters, military families, immigrants and old-timers. The town — and it’s proud of being a town, no matter how large it grows — contains a diversity of opinion that defies the entrenched definitions of East Coast talking heads.” You can read the article in its entirety at http://www.npr.org/2011/01/15/132956264/amid-tragedy-tucson-shows-what-its-made-of?sc=emaf
Because of the “character and characters” in this town, there are a gazillion different groups and actions. Many were started before the event and others grew out of it. If you’re wondering what you can do, here’s just a short list of some of the things I discovered and put some energy into in the past few weeks.
- I attended a new group called Connect the Dots – Democracy in Action. I went to the first meeting at the Dusenbury River Library with my neighbor because of the title “Hey, dude, where’s the jobs?” If the tragedy in Tucson was politically motivated then I want to do what I can to be clear about my political position and beliefs. After all, some people just died or were wounded putting their beliefs into action. For more information go to www.tucsonactioncalendar.org
- A group of holistic practitioners came together to set up a team of “first responders” in order to connect the healing community we already have in place and a day of healing is scheduled for Saturday February 19th.
- Common Ground is a monthly celebration of local community discovering and inventing local community in Tucson. All individuals and organizations are connected by location but we need an intersection to connect people, projects and organizations. That intersection will be on the top floor of Pennington Street Garage on the 3rd Sunday of the month. We share a long list of challenges in this history we are sharing, which confront all of us, economy, sustainability, even crazy violence, right here in Tucson. For more info go to www.CommonGroundTucson.org
- I continue to put my work out there in a way that demonstrates my commitment to my purpose and vision – helping others identify and find meaningful work. I like helping people craft a life that balances paid and non-paid work that helps people who want to make a difference.
Tucson diverse community of “character and characters” offers us all so many ways of being involved. For every voice in Tucson, there is indeed an audience. And, as we find ourselves more removed from the incident itself it may be harder to find ways of giving or expressing our concern. Memorials are being dismantled here in Tucson and permanent ones are being discussed. As if we’d ever forget. What are you doing that’s different and meaningful as a result of the events of January 8, 2011?
