310. Tragedy

Today, like so many other days in the last few months, was a gray day. There was the tragedy with Chapecoense, a plane crash killed many of its players. The team was on their way to the first leg of a championship game. I had never heard of the club before today, but they seemed like they had accomplished many good things. The one good thing that came out of this was the reminder that soccer is a community. I follow the Instagram and Twitter accounts of many different soccer players and clubs. Just about all of them posted some sort of tribute to the team. That was touching to see. I’m guessing there will be more tributes this weekend as more players play games.

That’s one thing I find touching about club football. While watching Premiere League games, I’ve heard the fans breakout in applause at various times throughout different matches. Usually it’s in honor of a fan club member who has passed away suddenly. I like that the clubs remember why they are really playing the games. I love the club format of European soccer clubs. It feels so much more real and raw than the straight up business ownership structure of U.S. professional teams.

Tragedy seems to come along so often this days, that we don’t often know how to deal with it. I think social media has ruined that aspect of life. Many people turn to social media in times of tragedy, and I have as well. While refreshing at times, there are those who think there is a right way or a wrong way to mourn someone or something. People call others out and beg them to move on, and then there is backlash to the backlash. It’s all very unhealthy.

I had lunch with a friend today who I hadn’t seen in a few weeks. We got to know each other in college when we worked on some campaigns together. She’s now a lawyer and I see her every so often for lunch. She, like so many others, was distraught over the results of the election. She worked for a number of female candidates in the election. I really respected her for that.

We talked and caught up about work, life, post-election recaps, and future plans. We also shared some ways of self-care in this tough time. I recommended some books, she talked about a “checklist” for the next few years. I agree with that. We all have things we need to do.

Maybe we should all just feel how we need to feel for the next few years. Some people deal with it more easily than others, other people just need to rant and let things out. I don’t disagree with any of that. Maybe we should give each other the benefit of the doubt, hold out our hands when we need to, and offer up help when we want to. There’s somebody, somewhere out there that needs some help. It just takes a little bit of time to find them.