Numb

Yesterday was a bit of a surreal day. I was sitting eating some dinner and just glancing over my twitter feed (with Poirot in the background on TV) and saw some posts about explosions in Boston. 

Immediately I felt my heart constrict and turned to BBC News 24 to work out what was going on. I must have watched the same news report and video footage about 8 times before I figured they couldn't tell us any more yet. The idea of people targeting innocent spectators at an event geared towards achievement and celebration is sobering. 

Yet when it boils down to the facts, 3 people died and 170 people were injured. This is tragic and deserves our attention and sympathy. However, across in Iraq at least 31 people were killed and at least 200 injured yesterday too.

But I didn't see that on the News and even if I had I know I probably would have tuned out. Because I have become numb to stories of violence in war-torn countries. I have switched off to prolonged violence because I don't know how to handle it. 

Huge numbers of people have died in Iraq, Syria and Iran in the last day(s) and yet we don't hear about it half as much as we did about a relatively small number in the US. 

I know the media has an agenda about what it covers - what people will find interesting etc. But I also know that not reporting about things to the same extent can make me think that people in USA/UK are more important than my global family. I don't want to be numb to the realities of the world. It is hard to really allow yourself to digest all that goes on, and sometimes it's hugely painful; but I don't want to just gloss over the fact that people around the world face deadly situations on a daily basis.