Virginia Tech

The first thing I felt when I heard the news of this senseless and horrible tragedy was a wave of heartbreaking sadness. Sadness for all of us because what we all share in common is life, and when life is ripped away from one of us, it is felt by all. And great sadness for all the incredible beauty in this world that is so inaccessible to the people who find themselves in so much pain and isolation that they are capable of an act as horrific as this.

And I realized how very, very important it is that we stop, think and choose how we want to respond to this moment.

Many will find it difficult not to become more fearful and isolated ourselves, as the violence against each other and nature seems to increase around the world. But what is it we really want? Ghandi said, “ We must be the change we want to see”. He was talking about the law of attraction. Fear does not create love, violence does not attract peace, isolation does not invite caring and connection.

If we want an end to acts of violence we must flood the corners of the earth with all the compassion and love we have inside of us. It is a choice we can make. And not as hard as you think. If you bring a candle into a dark room, it simply causes the darkness to disappear. You don't have to struggle with the darkness, you don't have to withhold some of the light because the room shouldn't be dark or doesn't deserve to be light. If you want light, you hold out the candle and the darkness disappears. Because you can't have both in the same room.

You have more power than you can imagine to effect what is happening in the world today. YOU ARE THE ONES YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR. You simply have to choose how you are going to respond, to every moment, person or event around you.

If you want love, compassion and peace in the world, be that. Send that to everyone at Virginia Tech – all the families, the community, everyone who has been touched by this tragedy. But don't stop there. Keep sending it. To the perpetrators, to the people, leaders, governments that may have caused them to experience that fear and isolation. Send it out to every dark corner of the earth that you can imagine.

Our world needs your love and compassion to survive. Don't hold back.

To your light,

Lisa