It's been exactly two weeks since the attacks in Paris brought our country among others to their knees. Over 100 are dead and just under 400 were injured in the deadly rampage. Suicide bombers blew themselves up in the name of their so called "religion." An act of terror was committed and there are many difficult questions being asked.
Even among all this craziness and turmoil in our world, a tragedy such as this brings out the worst in many people. In the past week. on social media I've seen people bash and belittle others for "not doing anything" or "enough" to help Paris recover. I've experienced personal judgment from someone who thinks changing your profile picture to the Paris flags "doesn't help Paris." And I've seen people boast about how it "isn't just Paris, it's about other countries too."
Let me tell you, I've never seen more deserving people to pity in the midst of this crisis. After scrolling along my news feed and trying to dodge an unnamed person's quest for hate and self-indulgence, I'd stumbled upon a quote I really liked. The quote read, "I think that in times of tragedy the less you make it about you, the more respectful you are to those who lost their lives and those who are mourning the dead." I couldn't have agreed more with that statement in the quote if I tried.
I think in a world today where sometimes we forget how small we are in comparison, we have to remember there are others around us, some suffering more greatly than we know. We must also remember that not everyone has the means to donate money to France's Red Cross or other relief efforts. Not everyone can be in Paris placing flowers or mourning among those who lost loved ones. For some, all they are able to do at the moment is change their profile picture to France's flag colors.
Destigmatization of loss or grief is needed in today's cruel world. This is not a competition and these are not your competitors. These are your friends. Using your efforts to help as a platform to boost your accomplishments only makes you selfish. What we need is to come together to mourn, recover, and fight back as a team.
Just because we are lifting up Paris, does not mean we forget Beirut, Lebanon. Just because the media covers mostly Paris, does not mean we don't know what's going on in Mali. Just because we think people don't notice an international issue, doesn't mean they are heartless. And just because you see people changing the colors of their profile picture to France's flag colors, does not mean they are not praying for the world.
