When our Hobbits were camped on the edge of the Midgewater Marshes, they saw flashes of light in the distance. We, the reader, know that this was Gandalf fighting off the Nazgul. This was where I was on my journey on Saturday night, June 11th. There was a battle happening in the distance.

I don’t often get political here. This blog is about finding joy and celebration in the ordinary, and that doesn’t have much to do with politics. But then there are the days when it is harder to find the joy. Days when people doing no harm to anyone are killed because they loved each other.

So I’ve been sad, just like you. I’ve also been angry. I’ve also been scared.

I try very hard in my life to listen to where people are coming from. This is something I’ve really focused on over the past few years, and it is tough. It’s so hard to listen to someone saying things that I very strongly disagree with and not scream at them. It’s hard to see people I care about still clinging to their stance against gun control. Or the things they are saying about the LGBTQ community.

My walks this weekend have been helpful. Walking helps me think things through. It was a nice walk home on Sunday night through Harlem thinking about the people I care about that show me love. And it was nice to walk down to The Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street (where it all began) for a Candlelight Vigil for Orlando. When I get sad, I mostly just want to sit in the darkness of my room by myself, but on these walks I’m with people. People that are living their lives, being kind, loving who they want, and not shooting each other.

The whole story of Lord Of The Rings is coming together to fight evil. That’s so hard when none of us can agree on who or what the evil is, but we’ve got to keep trying. Think about where you stand on these issues and why. REALLY think about it. Also, try to listen to where other people are coming from without becoming hostile. Great debates can happen. Thoughts and prayers can happen. What we really need though, is change. And change happens when we vote.

In the LGBTQ Community, we have seen massive change over the past several years because when people know and love someone who is gay, it allows them to open their minds to the possibility that being gay isn’t as awful or scary as they once thought. Please, please, don’t let mass shootings be the same. Let’s not wait until we all know at least one person who was killed in a mass shooting before we can become unified enough to do something to make a change.

Take action in any way you can think. Keep living. Keep loving. Keep fighting for the light that will shine out the clearer.

And Keep Walking.

Listening To: Pulse – Spotify Playlist