the Painting Activist

Yesterday’s murders at Virginia Tech marked a massive loss, which quickly rippled through the media and touched us all.  Catastrophes like this catch you in the middle of a mundane task that you will now remember as “what I was doing when…”  I hope strong support from friends, family, and colleagues in this community quickly work to reestablish peace and confidence so that we don’t learn to watch over our shoulders even in a place as safe a classroom.  Vigils and ceremonies are a natural first step to untarnish the negative ambience.  When Kyle Haywood was murdered outside my front door last year, the next day’s vigil calmed and cleansed the spot where we all stood, and where he was shot.

To some degree, my heart also goes out to the perpetrator, Cho Seung-Hui.  I can’t imagine the horrid state of existence the young man must have lived in to feel compelled to act this way.  Surely few of us have known such pain where murder and suicide, seemingly, are the only remaining options.

Whether supporting those now bearing the burden of the aftermath, or reaching out to someone on the same path as Cho Seung-Hui, we can never love too much.