Juxtaposition

This is Aina, she's a 4 month old Alaskan Husky. She's a rarer variety the Inuits bred to be half size. She's from Australia and 1 of 2 in NZ.

I awoke to the full horror of yesterday and wept. It isn't Paris, or a city in the UK or US. It's not Australia or a European city, it's here on my doorstep.

My naivety and cultural bias is stripped bare. I knew this would happen one day but deep down, if I'm honest, I assumed it would be perpetrated by an Islam extremist, either from overseas or someone quietly radicalised here.

After all, don't white people with extreme radical views of culturalal superiority live in the US or Europe?

It's an uncomfortable truth. I know that monsters come in all cultural and religious flavours but still I had a cultural bias and deep assumptions.

The sad truth is it's world wide. People die around the world in mosques, synagogues, and churches, at their most vulnerable, defenseless, engaged in the sacred acts of prayer and worship. And now it's true of Christchurch New Zealand.

An unpalatable truth indeed.

Walking the dogs and drinking coffee today was normal and good. Admiring gentle Aina was gentle and good. Cleaning my home and creating order is therapeutic.

I'm disciplining myself to limit my exposure to media reports and social media. When I've posted this all devices will be turned off. I'm fortunate, I can take care of myself in this way. Many have no choice about this horror.

Tomorrow will be a new day to continue making my peace with this atrocity.

Today's gratitude: For Jasper who joined me as I walked home from my friend's place. He danced around me, meowing, and regularly stopping to roll on the footpath and show me his tummy. He made me smile and laugh.