Never is there so much potential for beauty in humanity as in the aftermath of a tragedy. Somehow, when all things material seem broken and wrong, the human spirit radiates. People find it in their hearts to say and feel and do the right thing.
In tragedy, the human heart reaches out its arms and embraces those around it, and everyone is connected by the single, lonely heartbeat, searching for companionship in the time of abandonment. Tragedy is an inevitable and essential part of the human experience. It's like the loose thread in your coziest sweater. I think we take for granted how whole our lives are until the fabric of our existence feels the tug.
I'm not acting as advocate for those actions viewed as tragedies, simply seeking solace in an idea. Anyone who denies the magnitude of strength in Heritage's reaction this week, or admiration for Christian Bale when he visited the hospital in Aurora, or the reach of Rachel's Challenge, is only denying the most basic of human instincts. People want love. They want to share it, receive it, give it, see it, and genuinely know it. To be unified is to feel the love, and tragedy reminds us that we cannot stand alone.
Shakespeare's greatest works, the ones that people carry in their hearts, the ones that define actions and characters, are his tragedies. It is cathartic to experience such pain and emotional turmoil vicariously through Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, or Hamlet, but it is shattering to touch the agony for yourself.
Every action is an opportunity to react. The reaction that flooded Facebook was that of a shattered community, rebuilding and uniting itself with the love we'd all taken for granted. And it was truly beautiful.
It's reassuring to see such beauty in immediate life, and if anything that has come from this week is to stay, I hope it's that.
Share the love. For Madi, and for the beauty she's helped us find.
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