I am at a Loss

I am sure that most of you have heard of the accidental shooting of a fire range instructor, Charles Vacca, by a nine year old girl at a gun range in Arizona. I extend my condolences to both families. I am sure both are going through a difficult time. 

I am a proud Canadian and I admit that I do not completely understand the near obsessive gun culture in the United States of America. I realize that the history of our two countries is drastically different. I undertand that when the American Constitution was written, the country was young and feared retaliation from the British after the USA independence. America did not have a National Army at the time and therefore would have to rely on a Self Armed Militia for its defense. And thus the 2nd Amendment in the Constitution was a reasonable provision at the time. 

All of that being said, and with all do respect to the NRA, all legally and properly regulated gun ranges everywhere, who puts an uzi in the hands of a child except for the extremists leaders who endoctrinate children in their revolutionary armies after his/her hench persons have killed the child's parents and burned their village. 

I understand that the parents were present at the gun range when Mr. Vacca was accidentaly shot. I am not sure of all the circumstances. As would I, I am assuming that the parents of the nine year old have purposely stayed away from the media, at least until all investigations are complete. Perhaps she begged her parents and since they were on vacation from NJ, they thought it would be ok, just this once. Maybe they figured that since it was a gun range with a good reputation that it would be safe. Perhaps they concluded that since Mr. Vacca was an army veteran, nothing bad could happen. Unfortunately, they were wrong. 

I reiterate that I am not an American and I disagree with the 2nd Amendment as it stand in the present. There are times when my children have asked to do things to which I have emphatically said no and wondered afterwards if I had denied some intrical experience that would help mature them and teach them a vital life lesson. If this has occured, I have not seen any major damage to them as of yet. They are both teenagers and seem to be adjusting to life as can reasonably expected from adolescents. 

If I were to assign blame to anyone in this situation most certainly it is not the child. No matter what she asked or said; how she may have begged or cried; even if she threw her self on the ground and gave a tantrum to rival that of a toddler, she is absolutely and unequivocally not at fault. 

I do not place fault on any one adult. There were several in this situation that should have known better. Firstly, the parents should have said no. Although I am not certain if the family owned guns, if they were hunters, or if the child had been trained in the use of other firearms, I don't think that anyone needs to be a gun specialist to realize that a nine year old is not physically capable of handling the power of a fully automatic sub machine gun. I am a 44 year old and I am quite sure that I could not handle the recoil of such a weapon. 

If for what ever reason the parents were not knowledgeable of this or were over come by the child's insistance, the operator or reception individual that first conversed with the family and provided them with the information and all the waivers (there were many I am sure) should have informed them that their child was to small for such a weapon. 

Mr. Vacca, though the one who ultimately paid the price, has to be held accountable. A veteran and with that a hero, must have been aware of the force of the weapon. And in turn, drawn the conclusion that this child was just physically incapable to maintain control. 

Ultimately and at the end of the day this was a tragic accident. However, if the adults making the decisions, and I mean ALL the adults because there were many, had only taken a moment to pause and think through all the possible scenarios, it is an accident that could have been avoided. 

Mental Illness

I am sure I am not alone when I say that the news of the suicide of Robin Williams saddens me deeply. I extend my heart felt sympathies to his many friends and his family. 

I congratulate him on his previous openess about his struggles with addiction and mental illness. I am sure that many find it hard to believe that a man who had such a gift for making us laugh suffered from episodes of deep sadness and hopelessness. What boggles my mind is that there have been attacks against him and his family because his death was a suicide. 

It is obvious that many people, regardless of the many recent campaigns to inform the public about what mental illness is, still do not get it.  This is my attempt to further the understanding of mental illness and those who suffer from its many manifestations. 

Mental illness is first and foremost an illness. It is an illness that although may be the result of physical chemical imbalances in the brain its symptoms are exhibited in the mind of the individual. This an area that is very misunderstood and this perhaps is the reason so many people draw conclusions and make judgements without understanding the nature of the problem. 

One with a mental illness should be judged no more than the one who has diabetes. In fact the two have a great deal in common. Both the diabetic and the one with mental illness did not ask for this disease; they would get better and healthy if they could;  and both diseases have treatment but no cure. 

If someone with diabetes died as a result of their disease, and it does happen, was called a coward by a member of the media, I am quite sure the public uproar would be deafening and that reporter would not have a job the next day. This is not the case with mental illness and suicide. 

As is true with cancer and other life threatening diseases, one does not just have a mental illness, one BATTLES a mental illness. It is a struggle every single day to get up in the morning and face another day of the loneliness, sadness, hopelessness. And on top of that the fear of judgement from your fellow human beings. No one would dare look at someone who is struggling and battling daily with cancer with disdain. He or she would not be told "to buck up. It's no big deal." However those who are mentally ill face this hostility daily if they were to be honest about their condition. Is it any wonder that most of the mentally ill suffer in silence. 

I hope this post opens the eyes of those who pass judgement and perhaps those same people should be grateful that they do not battle an invisible and misunderstood disease. 

Humility

The first thing to know and understand is that humility and humiliation are NOT the same thing. According to my copy of The Oxford Dictionary of Current English the definitions are as follows:

Humility: n. humble (showing a low estimate of one's importance) attitude of mind.

Humiliation: n. the harming of the dignity or self respect of ...

So, thank you Mr. or Ms. Oxford, for the rest of us in the real world, what does this mean. Well I am going to tell you what it means to me.

Humiliation is an attack on a soul, and has no place in my life. To allow it to be done to me hinders my growth and causing it to another hurts us both. We are in this world together and if we are to make it a better place we must build each other up not tear each other down. 

Humility means that I am teachable. It means that I recognize that every one on this planet; past, present and future; have a spiritual purpose. And that all individuals that I meet on this journey called life have something to teach me. And I mean everybody, from the geniuses of the hallowed halls of higher education to the illetrate poor of any where in the world. I believe that I am on this planet to grow as a spiritual being and to do so I must remain teachable by whomever is teaching the lesson. I am an important being and am here for a significant reason. However, I am no more important than anyone else and everyone's purpose is as significant as mine. By maintaining this attitude, I am open to new experiences and more knowledge and hopefully more wisdom. 

My Name is Stephanie.

Hey. So this is my first real post. So I think an introduction is in order. 

Probably the best way to describe me is whimsically unique. I love to be spontaneous and nurture my inner silly. Although, chronologically I am an adult, I hope I never let my self grow up completely. 

As a result it is very hard to really tell you what the theme of this blog is. I am a Mom of two teenagers so sometimes I am sure that is a topic will broached. I am a writer, so the challenges and joys of storytelling will be discussed. I am a huge Montreal Canadiens fan and I love hockey, so sports fan may be interested in following this blog also. Finally I am opiniated lady. I probably have an opinion on everything. More important, I try to make sure it is an informed opinion. If for whatever reason I have not taken a point of view into consideration, I invite respectful comments. 

That's about all for now. I hope you enjoy reading it. And remember, take what you like and leave the rest

Make your Day Brilliant. 

Test Post

Far far away, behind the word mountains, far from the countries Vokalia and Consonantia, there live the blind texts. Separated they live in Bookmarksgrove right at the coast of the Semantics, a large language ocean. A small river named Duden flows by their place and supplies it with the necessary regelialia. It is a paradisematic country, in which roasted parts of sentences fly into your mouth. Even the all-powerful Pointing has no control about the blind texts it is an almost unorthographic life One day however a small line of blind text by the name of Lorem Ipsum decided to leave for the far World of Grammar. The Big Oxmox advised her not to do so, because there were thousands of bad Commas, wild Question Marks and devious Semikoli, but the Little Blind Text didn’t listen. She packed her seven versalia, put her initial into the belt and made herself on the way. When she reached the first hills of the Italic Mountains, she had a last view back on the skyline of her hometown Bookmarksgrove, the headline of Alphabet Village and the subline of her own road, the Line