Domestic Violence

Hello everyone, I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you were able to enjoy your holiday with family and friends. The Holiday season has begun and I’ve already started my Christmas Shopping.

Turkey, Holidays, When are We going to Address the Problem, Lisa Orchard — https://allthefreestock.com/

But enough about that. In the last week before Thanksgiving, we’ve had two mass shootings. One in Colorado and one in Virginia. This saddens me. What is going on in our country?

The shooting in Colorado is being investigated as a hate crime because the gunmen opened fire on a LGBTQ night club. The one in Virginia was an employee of Walmart who opened fire on fellow employees. Both incidents are under investigation, but like I’ve said before, I feel the root of all these shootings is disconnection. The shooter has lost his connection with family, friends, and community. No one wakes up one day and says, “I’m going to shoot up Walmart today.”

Disconnection, Disregard, Mass Shootings: When are we going to Address the Problem, Lisa Orchard — https://allthefreestock.com/

There are signs something’s wrong. The shooters may have a history of violence in their past. In fact, The New York Times conducted a study and found that seven out of ten mass shooters have a history of domestic violence. Either they are the abuser, or they grew up in an abusive household. This is where we need to start. Let’s take a hard look at domestic violence.

Domestic Violence, Mass Shootings: When Are we going to Address the Problem, Lisa Orchard — https://allthefreestock.com/

We have to stop sweeping it under the rug. Did you know that a woman is five times more likely to be murdered if her partner has a gun? So, if you combine the disconnection the shooter feels and add domestic violence to the mix, you’ve got a bomb ready to go off, and there’s no telling when it’s about to explode.

Bomb, Mass Shootings: When are we going to Address the Problem, Lisa Orchard — https://allthefreestock.com/

But what can we do? That’s a pertinent question. There’s no way to predict when someone’s going off the deep end. We need to educate people and where there’s a disconnect create a connection. We can do this by community outreach programs and through our schools. I hate to put any more responsibility on our schools, but it is a place where kids come together and a place of connection for them.

We need to study other countries that don’t have a mass shooting problem and emulate them, then go above and beyond to create avenues where victims of domestic violence can go and be safe. Next we have to take a hard look at domestic violence and stop tolerating it as a society. It has to be punished and not swept under the rug.

I don’t like to get political on my blog, but there is another reason the United States has so many mass shootings and that is we have an astronomical number of guns. In a study conducted by The New York Times, Americans make up 4.4 percent of the population but own 42 percent of the total number of guns. We need to change this. Kids don’t need assault weapons and neither do adults. The only people who really need this type of weapon is someone in the military. I know there are some second amendment people out there, and I agree with you. We do have the right to bear arms, but the constitution was written a long time ago, and I can guarantee you, they weren’t even thinking about assault rifles when they wrote that amendment.

So there you have my action steps to the problem.

Create connection through our communities
Stop tolerating Domestic Violence as a Society
Limit access to guns and assault weapons
Emulate other countries who don’t have a mass shooter problem

What are your thoughts on Mass Shootings? What would you do to stop them? Leave a comment! I’d love to hear from you!

For more information on Mass Shootings, check out these links:

Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’m back today after a week of work, writing and the pandemic. Truth be told the pandemic hasn’t had that negative of an effect on me. I’m an introvert by nature and in the winter, we hunker down and hibernate.

bear, sleeping bear, hibernating — https://allthefreestock.com/

Don’t get me wrong. I miss going to the movies with my mom and out for a meal with my family, but I’m not chomping at the bit because I can’t get out and socialize. However, our extrovert friends can’t claim the same. The mild discomfort us introverts feel is nothing compared to what our extroverted friends are going through. They get energized by interacting with people, so this social distancing is hard for them, I’m sure.

I know we should be thankful for the technology that allows us to interact via zoom calls and WebEx, but it isn’t the same as being in the same room as someone and interacting with their energy. The world before the pandemic was made for the extrovert. That world has been turned upside down, and this pandemic has many of us introverts thriving. While we’re finding our inner peace because we aren’t forced to interact outside of our homes, our extroverts are floundering.

video conference, skype, webinar — https://allthefreestock.com/

Many of us are working from home. I love it. I used to drive ten hours a week to get to work. So, the extra ten hours a week I get for not driving, I get to devote to something I really want to do like writing. I also find freedom in the fact that I can get up fifteen minutes before work starts and do my job in my pajamas. I don’t do this. I always get up and shower before I start working. I feel more professionally prepared when I do this. 😉

However, just knowing I have that option gives me a sense of freedom. Our extroverts don’t feel the same way. They need social interaction to feel energized and they’re not getting it. It’s no wonder that the suicide rate is on the rise and there’s also a rise in domestic violence.

The increase in these occurrences aren’t just due to the isolation, though. There are other factors involved like the loss of income and displacement from homes that need to be considered. This is a hard time for all of us, but for our extroverts especially.

Woman Crying — https://allthefreestock.com/

So, let’s keep this in mind as we interact with people even if it’s during a WebEx meeting. Let’s make sure we’re kind and giving. I know we’re all financially strapped because many of us aren’t working because of the lockdown, but if we have an opportunity to give even if it’s just a kind word let’s do it. Let’s reach out even if it’s just a phone call to our extroverted friends and let them know we’re thinking of them. They need it now more than ever.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my post. Do you have some ways we can take care of our extroverted friends? Leave a comment! I’d love to hear from you!