Service in the Face of Tragedy

The Virginia Tech tragedy has left many of us in a state of grief. There’s a raw feeling juxtaposed against the intention to move on. This sadness takes many forms, as do our individual methods to conquer the inner feelings that are so heavy right now. Self-help blogs abound with tips on handling the grief on a personal level, we’ve seen and heard psychotherapists offering guidance and tools about how to respond to the crisis, and we’ve talked amongst ourselves to reduce the heart-wrenching blow. It’s just not that easy to pick up and go to work, school and do business in this time.

What seems to have been lost in all the TV counseling sessions and commentary, which was present in tragic incidents of recent years, is the concept of “service.” In The Chaos Monitor, just a few days ago, I wrote about being more aware and sensitive to the people around you, especially in the workplace in Virginia Tech Massacre: A New World Again?

Times of chaos, often  generate a compassionate spirit among close groups of people, at least for a little while. But along with talking things out however, I’ve found it extremely helpful to get out of my head and volunteer. It’s an amazing feeling to release the “me” in the day for a few hours. We often get stuck in our own head, and spiral into non-action and heaviness, instead of taking action.

Oddly enough, this is National Volunteer Week. It seems to have been lost in the news with all the pain of this week and the continued flow of new information and video showing a belligerent Cho Seung-Hui, ranting about what he calls “the debaucheries” of the rich. A new federal report, “Volunteering in America: 2007 State Trends and Rankings in Civic Life,” by the Corporation for National and Community Service found that 61.2 million Americans volunteered in 2006. Unfortunately, that number actually reflects a dip in volunteerism from 2005. In fact, about 1 in 3 Americans dropped out of their volunteer work from 2005 to 2006. Still, the surge in volunteerism since the events of September 11th remains higher than it did prior to the tragedy.

“The best way to find yourself, is to lose yourself in the service of others.”  Mahatma Gandhi

Service in the face of grief is a lesson I learned during the events of 9/11. Being a news reporter for the national radio program Marketplace Morning Report and working for a local TV station, the days became numbing, and the nights filled with grief, until I started volunteering with the children of the victims. It changed my world, my life and my work. You can read about it my recent column in Canvas Long Island Magazine, The WorkLife Minute with Judy Martin. The result was a complete shift in my priorities as a person, caregiver, and in my work ethic. It was a healing experience and opened many doors. I encourage you to try it.