I don't ask for much.

Truth be told, I'd settle for a life less frightening.

I'm sure everyone knows about the Aurora shooting. If you don't, you clearly live under a rock, and you should google it. Terrible thing, and since it's been so heavily on the news, I'm not going to go into details about it. There's just no need.

So I'm on facebook looking at people's statuses, and my school's official page has an update that says, "The MSU Denver community is mourning broadcast major Jessica Ghawi, one of the victims of the shooting in Aurora. Our thoughts and deepest sympathies go to Jessica's family, friends, and those whose lives she touched at MSU Denver. We will provide details on a memorial service when information becomes available. For those who need assistance, the Counseling Center is available at [--------], and their crisis number is [--------]."

I didn't know this girl. At least, the name didn't ring a bell, so I tried facebooking her to see if I recognized her picture, and instead, I found a RIP page dedicated to her. On it, they share her blog so you can read about her life.

http://jessicaredfield.wordpress.com/

3 weeks ago today there was a mall food court that was shot up in Toronto, and Jessica was there on vacation. I find it particularly heartbreaking that she avoided death and injury there just to die at the shooting the other night. For the record: No, I didn't know her. But she seems like an amazing girl, and I wish I had.

About the song and quote... I, personally, am fine. This tragedy hasn't ruined my life, but I know that what happened in that theater was terrifying for a lot of people. A lot of people feared they would die, or that their loved ones would die. And while I believe in eternity and that there's a life after this one, while I believe that someday, we'll all look back at Earth-life and realize how insignificant that short blip of time was, we're not at that point yet. Life on Earth is all I know-- it's all any of us know. And so when bad things happen here, it's life shattering. And someday it won't matter that much. But for now, it does. That's all that's important. Right now, it matters.

So that's all I mean by the song quote. I don't mean to imply that I'm scared of what's beyond my doors. I don't mean I fear that I or someone I know will die in a freak-shooting like this while in class or walking down the street. I recognize these are possibilities, but I don't think they're likely and I'm certainly not going to let the possibility of something bad happening stop me from doing something I love. I hope it won't stop those I love from doing something they love. What I mean by the quote is that I know bad things happen, and I know that it's painful for a lot of people out there. And I wish that it didn't have to be.

But, I suppose, that's actually part of why I'm going into the field I'm in. I won't be able to stop these things from happening, but with my job, I'll hopefully be able to bring some closure to those who experience these kinds of things. I'll be able to help them move on and move past the fear, so they can try to put back a semblance of the life they had before.