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Our ›far away‹ is other ones’ ›so close‹!
Death came ›close‹ to us when the venue Le Bataclan and other places in Paris were attacked on 13th of November. Pleasingly, only a few people in my environment limited their reaction to the words »this could have been me«. We were all numb, I felt and still feel speechless too. But in moments like this when we feel the suffering of others, it should not be about us—it should be about them, their friends and families. It is only about us, when someone we know is among the victims.
Still—this is natural—for many of us (me included) there indeed is a closer connection as we are part of the world of music as musicians, fans, managers, staffs, technicians, photographers, or writers. Many of you, I know, have even been in this particular venue. What if the attack had happened on 2nd of October when MIYAVI played there? What if it had been another city, maybe the one you live in? It’s been a show of the American rock band Eagles of Death Metal in Paris that day, but it could have been different. Of course, it could have been you, me, us. And as the events affect our way of life, it happens automatically that we feel closer to these victims then to others.
It isn’t a bad thing to be ›closer‹ to one group of people then to another—it is an opportunity! The feeling of »it could have been me« and »this happened to people close to me« gives us a small glimpse of how it must feel like to be in a life threatening danger.
This should not at all set us in a panic mode. Believe me, in our still so safe countries of the so praised »free / western« world it is much more likely to die in an accident or because of an illness. Go out, don’t stop living your life. But take this feeling, and open your eyes for those victims who are not close to you. Let’s take this more or less self-centered feeling, and use it for selflessness by seeing those victims we tend to ignore. Because our ›far away‹ is so ›close‹ for many others. Because our »could not happen to me« does happen to others.
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