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The day after the Boulder shooting, I was sent to grocery stores to interview service workers about how they felt about going to work. I reluctantly jumped in my car and headed to retailers. I expected to get a lot of blank stares, mostly some polite “no's” and maybe one or two eye rolls when I approached folks.
After about two hours, only one person agreed to an interview. He stocked the shelves with beer and said he hoped the shooting was a one-off event. He talked about how the last year had been especially challenging for service workers dealing with upset customers at busy stores while trying to stay safe, both from the virus and now from people with horrific intentions. After we finished our conversation, the store manager swiftly escorted me out — the third time to happen that day.
As I walked to my car, I thought about what a horrible year so many people have had.
I knew then that we needed to reframe how we were thinking about the shooting. The standard media frenzy wasn’t going to cut it. People were craving a place to be together and heal.
I started to think about who we turn to when we grieve. Some people look to their Pastor, Rabbi, Iman or another faith leader. I turned to Rev. Henderson, who works through an interfaith lens. I told her what I was seeing and how I was feeling. And she said she saw something similar while watching the news the night of the Boulder shooting.
“There was something different in the level of exhaustion that it seems that people were embodying,” she said “It wasn’t just their words. It was their face. Their expression. Their posture. The heaviness.”
I asked her if she had any thoughts about how I could convey that feeling to our audience.
She said she had a “creative idea.” A mentor of hers had introduced her to the Anglican Rosary. She leans on it during challenging times.
“It creates this grounding that can hold to what’s most important when we are struggling to remember who we are.”
She suggested writing a poem grounded in those same rhythms. It didn’t have to be tied to any faith tradition. But it was an embodiment of that idea. She thought each of the seven sections of the poem could be represented by someone who experienced pain throughout the year.
I liked the idea and how different it was. I talked to her about who each person would be. It was important to both of us that they came from different life experiences and cultures. She helped get me in contact with people. I interviewed them about what life had been like the last year and how they had been coping. I also asked them to reflect on what they took away from Rev. Henderson’s poem.
I hope her poem and the stories of the people who represent each section of her meditation bring you some peace. I know it did for me.
Thanks so much for reading,
Hayley
Got questions or comments? You can reach me at hsanchez@cpr.org
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Why We Told A Story About Our Collective Year Of Grief And Trauma Through A Meditation Poem - Colorado Public Radio
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