Like most around the country, I was dumbfounded and devastated by the bombings at the Boston Marathon.One little blog post certainly isn’t going to make a lick of difference for those who lost their lives, were injured or were simply traumatized by this horrible event, but this post, was a {sadly} timely reminder that it’s too easy to live in a bubble. We certainly do it in blogging all the time; everything looking beautiful and happy-go-lucky, but we do this on a large scale in offline life too.

It’s so easy to turn from ugly, horrible or scary things when they don’t directly affect us. It isn’t until they take the life of someone we love, come into our homes or turn our lives upside down that humans really internalize the depths of tragedy. But something like this attack can’t be glossed over – it does affect all of us. I see it as yet another symptom of the pandemic of violence that is tightening a vice grip around us.

I saw this quote fly by while I read all the Boston-related Twitter feeds yesterday.

Though we have no idea what version of crazy (zealot, mentally ill, terrorism, vigilante or otherwise) was motivated to take the lives of innocent people in this case, I only hope that we’ve not polluted the ocean of our humanity with too much pressure, stress, economic hardship, division, violence and cynicism that we can no longer come out clean.

I have no answers as to how we, collectively, can act to prevent something like this in the future, but the need for some kind of action is obvious.

If social media has bound people together like never before, helping us to respond once crises happen, perhaps we can use it to deepen human connection and communication so we don’t resort to violence to feel heard. I have no idea where we’ll find the how, all I know is that we’ve got to find a way.

My deepest sympathies go to everyone directly affected by the Boston bombings.

photography by jennifer hagler