It was a couple days after the Coastline Fire when I was driving through Laguna Canyon admiring the contrasts: brown grass/green trees, blue sky/white clouds. And then I wondered, would this be my last drive before the dry grass burns and the green trees turn black?
Only a few days later I was on Main Beach admiring the humanity: volleyballers, dog lovers and tourists from Aurora, Buffalo and Taiwan. And then I wondered, would someone ever open fire on Main Beach?
Dark and fatalistic? I don’t think so. Like many, I fear I have succumbed to a disaster mentality. It’s a mix of inevitability, pessimism and reality. In an age where calamity is expected, calamity is a given.
If not for the winds, the Coastal Fire just outside of Laguna Beach could have been ours.
Except for a few miles, what separates the Geneva Presbyterian Church from the Laguna Presbyterian Church?
As mass shootings, fires and other disasters become commonplace, at what point do we tune them out for our own mental health? And when that happens, can we honestly claim, “I can’t believe it happened here!”
There’s clear evidence that the stress is real and profound – with young people hit especially hard. According to the U.S. Surgeon General, because of gun violence, racism, income inequality and other societal issues, the number of high school students who reported “persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness increased by 40%” since 2009.
Those “seriously considering attempting suicide increased by 36%.”
Furthermore, according to the American Psychological Association (APA), young adults – more than any other generation – are more likely to admit they are experiencing poor mental health.
“Current events are clearly stressful for everyone in the country, but young people are really feeling the impact of issues in the news, particularly those issues that may feel beyond their control,” said Arthur C. Evans Jr., PhD, APA’s chief executive officer in a press release.
To put this another way, some are saying it’s no longer about the Millennials or Gen-Zers but the “Massacre Generation.”
The Massacre Generation … how can this be possible? Who can live with that?
We can, apparently.
