Thursday, October 25, 2012

Salon Shooting in Brookfield

There has been much to reflect on the last few weeks and absolutely no time to reflect so I hope that in the next weeks, I will have a number of blog posts to share with you.  Today though I feel the need to address the Salon Shooting in Brookfield, WI.

Like many, I poured over articles and searched for fingers to point, for ways the system failed this woman.  But then I was reminded of the lack of value in should statements.  If there is one thing that we, as advocates, law enforcement, court personnel, and most importantly as community members take from this it is that our work is not done.  I cannot control what someone else does and fretting over it does nothing but infuriate me.  I CAN control what I am doing for victims, survivors, friends, family members, neighbors, colleagues, etc.

So I encourage each one of us (myself included) to refocus our energies on the work we can do and the differences we make in others' lives.  And my thoughts go out to all of those affected by violence.

It's amazing how much more at peace I feel after one of the most stressful days by spending my drive home refocusing my energy and drafting this blog post in my head.  Now it is time to crawl in bed with a good book.