Simply, Love. Beantown support.

I worked in Duxbury, MA, I know that "pahkin the cah in Hahvahd Yahd" is bullshit because there's no parking around Harvard, I drink Dunkin Donuts year-round. I've seen the fake Mayflower in Plymouth and enjoyed picnics at the Cape. I hate the Yankees for no damn reason. Seriously. So being someone who loves the city of Boston, yesterday hit me particularly hard. Especially when I realized my best friends were cheering on their cousin, Sara, at the finish line of the Marathon. My heart sank to my stomach, and remained there for quite awhile because everyone's cell coverage was down due to an overwhelming capacity trying to make their own calls to let their loved ones know they were safe. Luckily, my crew was safe and made it to a hotel where they remained overnight. 

(Hi, Sara!!)

Through this tragic event, I began to reflect. One thing that I don't think many people think of after something like this happening, despite this tragedy, is "love." America’s awesome strength to fight is overwhelmed by its irrepressible strength to love. This terrible event took 3 precious lives today. Love saved countless lives. 

• Policemen on the scene immediately, fire engines on the scene in minutes, strangers carrying strangers, nurses and doctors activated all over the city, volunteers from around the city, state and country helping in any way they can. 
• The love didn't stop there. After two explosions, rather than run in fear, people ran TOWARDS the site, removing barriers and clearing debris despite the uncertainty of safety, smoke and carnage.
• But the love didn’t stop there. Love saved the other children and adults who walked off Boylston St. unharmed.
• But we didn't stop there. Love kept the marathon runners who crossed the finish line running, all the way to Mass. General Hospital to give blood.
• But we didn’t stop there. Love claimed the 6.5 million other people from Massachusetts who are going to bed peacefully tonight, and who will wake up tomorrow morning committed to loving each other a little deeper. 

The awe of today is not that a person(s) full of hate can take 2 people’s lives; it is that a nation full of love can save 300 million lives every day. 

Seriously.. That's amazing... America. Is. Amazing.

Today so many people asked, "What do we do?" You can't escape social settings all together, you can't avoid a movie theater like many claimed they would after the horrendous shooting in Aurora, Colorado that took 26 lives. You can't escape sending your children to school, or to celebrate an amazing city-wide tradition. This answer is you simply love deeper, fuller, more. We love back. We live back. We deepen our commitments to all the unnumbered acts of kindness that make America an unrendable fabric. We will serve more meals, play more games, eat more food, listen to happy music, go to more movies, give more hugs, and say more “thank yous” and “I love yous” than ever before.

You can't stop life because something bad happened. You continue, you grow and you deepen your relationships. 

So, go hug someone who means something to you. Buy someone on the street a meal or a bus ticket. Tell you family and friends what they mean to you. Accomplish your goals-- or work towards doing so. Say a prayer. It all starts with you. It seems so overwhelming to think one person can change the world, but if we're all in it together-- We all can. Life goes on, we move on, but events that happen shape who you are. So let this shape you positively and show others there can be a silver lining.

"And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” -Marianne Williamson