I no longer watch TV because I can't stand it. I barely listen to modern radio stations because the lyrics often end up being about violence or degrading others in an artsy way.
But I am on social media every time I have to work. It is my virtual office. Every time something bad happens, I follow the reactions of readers. I try to learn more about the victims and the criminals. Every time, my heart breaks for each one of them. In many cases the offenders are young. When I read about teenagers and young adults murdering their peers, voices get loud and demand the same for them. Death penalty. Torture. One eye for another.
The real tragedy behind crime is that it is not about the victim nor the person who turned into a criminal. It is about us. We turn our eyes away from our own responsibilities we have as a world society. It is easy to blame those who are involved in those horrible and sad events because it keeps us free from having to feel guilt or shame. It is not our fault, right? I believe it is.
While today we are more and more connected globally, we've never been more apart emotionally. We are raising young people without any direction of what it means to experience emotions because we won't allow ourselves to fully experience nor acknowledge them. Many have shut down their emotional world a long time ago. Many simply survive day after day becoming resistant to feelings.
My experience shows me that we are raising and living within generations that are very intuitive. The more empathetic we are, the more we need emotional support -- otherwise we easily get overwhelmed. I am a very strong empath myself and know how easily we can feel different or left out. Our emotions and those of others are rolling over us like ocean waves. The world tells us to approach life from a logical, ego-driven way while something within us lights up a fire for passion, community and genuine love for each other. It turns into a subconscious fight within that is trying to figure out the truth. In the process we are being bombarded with environmental toxins, other people's energies which just adds to the internal confusion. We keep bottling up our emotions and thoughts until that bottle is full. Often, we will see one of two things happening as a result; 1) Young adults who fall into depression, experience anxiety and/ or panic attacks and 2) Young men and women that will release their emotions through different ways, as for example, violence, drugs and alcohol. Whatever it is that helps us to break out of our emotional prison, is being recognized by our subconscious mind as "good" because it makes us feel better.
We cry for change. We fight against wars and crime. As human beings we yearn for a better world of peace and understanding. It is part of our inner core.
But, what it really takes is personal responsibility. This is the only way we can experience change. Are we really ready to take a look at ourselves?
We let our young children watch TV shows that are packed with violence, with murder scenarios of all kinds. We raise them to become independent adults. But we fail to teach them how to connect within themselves to learn and understand what they feel and how to handle their emotional world effectively. We fail to allow them to discover who they truly are and what they are called to do on this Earth because we won't let ourselves get to that place either.
We blame government, our neighbors -- well, really everyone else -- yet we won't do the work of personal growth and discovery for ourselves. We are tired, mentally exhausted and maybe we don't even know how to connect on such a deep level either.
Are our children supposed to figure it out all on their own while we sit around and wait for the next tragedy to happen? Pointing fingers and expressing how horrible this world is, won't bring crime rates down. It won't change how we view each other. It won't change the judgement we have of each other.
It is not about laws or who is right or wrong.
It is about us. It all starts with you, within you.
Are you ready to take on the responsibility for yourself, as well as for those around you? We are one world community and we are responsible for each other. I believe, that once we understand this, we will see and experience tremendous change in a positive way. Until then, we can continue sitting around blaming each other for every tragedy that is happening.
Becoming a criminal doesn't just happen, it is a development of over many years. The issue is not a violence problem but it is a problem of a society that is emotionally disconnected.