Today is one of those days. It's one of those days when I just can't watch or listen to or read the news. I'll need to go without news for a day or two.
I've spent the morning listening to news of the shooting in Aurora, Colorado. It's gut wrenching. Heart breaking. Horrific. It's making me sick. So I have to stop for a bit.
As a general rule I watch the national news every night. I download it and watch it on my computer. I usually play solitaire or something while I half watch it. The reason I do it this way is because too often there are things shown on the news that I just can't stomach. When I can tell a story like that is coming, like Syria, I maximize the game window. I still get informed, but those images aren't burned into my brain.
Some days that's enough. Listening but not watching. Getting the info but not the images.
But not on days like today.
I've been kind of a news junkie since high school. I remember spending hours watching news stories unfold as more information came in. All day long checking in, waiting to get the whole story. Sometimes it took many days.
I just can't do that anymore. It's not that I don't have the time or the access. I don't have the stomach. I just can't take it.
Today I am heart-sick thinking of the families involved, those still struggling for their lives in hospitals, those who were in the theater who will deal with post-traumatic stress for years, and all of the people trying to make sense of it. Which is impossible. It was senseless.
My heart and prayers are with anyone touched by this event. May they find strength, peace, and comfort. I pray that the goodness of people will shine through rather than the ugly. I pray that it will unite rather than divide. I pray that we will all heal. And I know it will take time.