Creating a Space for Love

The Sandy Hook Elementary School Massacre is a event that continues to weigh heavy on my heart, despite the fact that six years have passed since the fateful incident.  I suppose I am liable to think on it in light of the recent shooting in Florida on Valentine’s Day.  Every school or mass shooting is beyond horrible, but for me, the Sandy Hook shooting was particularly distressing.  In my darker moments of pondering life on this planet, I have let my mind drift to what an automatic weapon could do to the body of a child. And it makes me want to give up- at least until the anger kicks in. Then I want to fight for change. Even if the beginning of that fight is just a small gesture. A recognition of the issue.  And the desire to have a conversation that reminds us to love each other.  That may sound a little hippy dippy, but I have to believe in love and peace right now, in the wake of this most recent tragedy, or I won’t be able to keep fighting for my desire to have a child of my own- to bring a child into this often ugly, war-torn, bipartisan world that we live in.  So when I stumbled across the name Yolie Moreno this week, it brought me some comfort.

Yolie was one of the residents of Newtown where the tragedy of Sandy Hook occurred.  When interviewed by a playwright (about the steps taken to heal the town in the aftermath), she said the following:

I felt, well maybe I could absorb some of this sadness or maybe I could deflect some of this by just standing in this like, vigil.  Sort of like silent vigil.  I woke up and thought, “Oh my God, if this is what my town is now known for, I just couldn’t bear it.” And what this was, I was compelled and I had this dream and I said, I woke up and I said, “I have to go make a sign.  I have to go make a sign and go sit out somewhere.” So I called my friend Vicky and I said to her, “I’m gonna make a sign and it’s gonna say, ‘I am love, I am Newtown’ and I’m gonna sit at the highway exit.  Exit 10.  So it’s the first thing they see when they com ein and the last thing they see when they leave.  So, me and my daughter, made this sign, and painted it.

And Yolie and her daughter did indeed sit by the busy I-84 holding a various signs- one of which that ended up saying, “I am Newtown, I am love, please send love.”

And after a few days, the love began to roll in.  Letters, cards, and teddy bears.  Every cargo truck in the area was full of support for the town.  At first, the town didn’t know what to do, and began to discuss throwing things away.  But Yolie went on to spearhead the documentation effort, covering every each of her farm with greetings and pictures and well-wishes from around the world.  She photographed everything.  And now, you can see every letter, card, work of art, and more at the website she began at www.embracingnewtown.com

So, what started as a brightly painted sign and a vigil of sorts, grew into an impromptu art installment at Moreno’s farm, and now is a documented gallery of love.  I think Moreno’s efforts were and are art- they inspire empathy and move us toward social change.  I don’t think what she's done goes too far, because until gun reform occurs, anything that can be done- including hand painted signs and stand-ins on highways- to help us re-write history and remember those who we lost, is of the utmost significance.  In this case, I did not feel complicit in the “media-fication” of tragedy.  Rather, I was proud of a woman who took a stand, and through a small act, helped a community to heal.

Manifesto- Creation of Space for Love

In these moments of tragedy,

Take a breath.

Create a space,

A space of love.

Do not close your eyes to the ugliness of the world

Rather- open your mind to the idea that change is inevitable.

We can reframe the ugly and make it beautiful.

We will take the time to put our hearts into our mouths

And let our tongues speak from our souls.

We will dare to say, “I care,” “I’m here,”

“I won’t forget.”

When our leaders turn their backs

On the tears and trauma senselessly brought on

By the careless and selfish actions of others,

We must not let anger overcome us. 

Or if the anger is what drives us,

Accept the challenge of transformability.

Reframe the anger into action. 

Your actions are never too small.

Place the call,

Make the sign,

Light the candle,

Scream and cry,

But speak.

Be heard.

There are those of us who want and need to hear.

We can create joy out of pain.

We shall comfort with our transformation.

We will speak truth to power.

We may be met with skepticism.

There may be those who fear our actions

Because they don’t understand them.

They may try and block our efforts as a result.

We must be vigilant in welcoming them in to the space

Of love and forgiveness that we have created

Otherwise no one will grow,

Change will be stifled.

This will be difficult.

We will want to shut them out as they have done to us

But only through compromise comes understanding.

We must keep the space open and welcoming,

We must live inside the space.

There are those that will question our actions.

We must be patient.

We must make them understand.

Though this may be a lifelong endeavor,

We create a place of love

Because there is no room for anything else.