Really lovely phrasing, Amy. 

Carving a well is one thing - filling it with bucket after bucket is another. 

I refuse to watch any of the constant news programs.  And a lot of the popular TV shows and movies really bother me, so I stay away from them too.

The question I ask is:  What would YoYo do?  Beyond just talented and accomplished, YoYo Ma seems like such an amazing person to me, so full of life and music and joy.  He MUST be pulling a lot of joy into his life to be putting so much out.

Stacy, artist and mother of twins

I love it!

Amy Taylor

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I try not to expose myself to the news too much or I do get depressed. When I hear something depressing, I usually stop and pray for the situation and talk to my husband or a friend to express how I'm feeling.

Nettie Beck

"For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

Nettie, that sounds like a wise and healthy response. I will try to do the same.

Amy Taylor

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originally posted by ataylor2

Other times I have this strong sense that we are all connected. I feel a need to absorb the bad as well as the good and let it resonate with me, in the hopes that I will find strength in choosing not to turn away from painful things but absorbing them and letting them carve a deeper well of empathy within me.

---

Amy Taylor

Amy, that is poetic & lovely.  What a beautiful sentiment. 

You can only be young once, but you can ALWAYS be immature. 

Aw, thanks. I think I kind of stole it from Kahlil Gibran. You know, that idea that deep joy and deep sorrow are related. You can't have one without the other.

He said some beautiful things, Gibran did. Look up his quotes if you want poetry and inspiration!

Amy Taylor

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I saw this article and thought of you.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/11/06/military.psychiatrists.fort.hood/index.html

<quote>

Those who counsel trauma victims -- whether they be psychiatrists, social workers or advocates -- can experience an emotional toll after intensive exposure to patients' stories of horror. Experts call this phenomenon "vicarious trauma."

The symptoms of vicarious trauma -- stress, social withdrawal, sensitization to televised violence -- are not enough to make people violent themselves, said Barbara Rothbaum, director of the Trauma and Anxiety Recovery Program at Emory Medical School.

The symptoms of vicarious trauma, also called secondary traumatic stress, parallel those of direct trauma, said Laurie Anne Pearlman, former president of the Trauma Research, Education, and Training Institute Inc. and author of several books about vicarious trauma.

"In working with victims of violence, there's a lot of anguish and grief and pain and sorrow," she said. "It really affects your own emotional life."

Helpers of victims may begin to feel they can't enjoy life when so many people in the world are suffering, she said. Hearing stories of betrayal may cause some to distrust their close contacts or become overprotective of their children. Mental health professionals are generally obligated not to share patient information with anyone, so they can't seek comfort from friends or family about a patient experience.

Listening to patients who have suffered, therapists may have so much empathy that they develop what is called "compassion fatigue."

But vicarious trauma goes beyond that, said Dr. Frank Ochberg, former associate director of the National Institute of Mental Health. "It's not that I am feeling sorry for them and empathize with them, it's that I'm becoming them," he said. This vicarious or secondary traumatic stress is relatively rare, but "we've all identified it," he said.

The toll of bearing witness to accounts of others' suffering can take many forms. Rothbaum recalls one therapist involved in a rape victim study many years ago. She was married and a "very together woman," Rothbaum said, who nonetheless said, "after hearing all these stories, I'm starting to get angry at men." Ochberg recalls a colleague who worked with Vietnam veterans telling of his own dreams of his patients' conflicts, traumas and tragedies.

/<quote>

I wonder if that's what happened to my MIL.  She was a case worker for a long time and I think it made her crazy, facing the horrific things that happen to children.

Stacy, artist and mother of twins

You have to wonder whether this phenomenon may have played a role in the events at Fort Hood, too. Hugs to all our military families and everyone touched by this horrible incident, by the way.

Thanks for sharing this article, Spacey. I can definitely relate.

Amy Taylor

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