If you need to talk about Bondi Junction - this community is here

[Sophie_M]

Hi everyone

With the horrible event at Bondi Junction on the weekend we know there will be a lot of people feeling distressed, overwhelmed and unsure. There have been some conversations across this wonderful community starting to put into words these feelings and we have seen the wonderful way in which you all support each other. 

We wanted to make a space for these thoughts and feelings so that if you need support from others, you can post here.

If you want to talk to Beyond Blue, we are always here, either on the phone or via webchat https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/talk-to-a-counsellor

You can also hear the thoughts and reflections of our Patron, The Hon Julia Gillard AC https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2150279295338239

Thank you all for being an important part of this community and for sharing your experiences, thoughts and wisdom.

[white knight]

ONLY HAVE LOVE

Humans are such capable creatures since we began to walk

Then sign language made way for us to develop and talk

We covered the planet and never gave up hope

We have an eye to see the past with a telescope

But we cannot conquer the common cold

We cant make the weak and hungry to be bold

Nor can we mend some relationships that slide away

Or predict we are going to have not such a perfect day

So we humans are delicate and our limits exposed

We can only reduce our fears by the choices we chose

But we cannot change events where we hesitate

Sometimes in life we simply cant - eliminate

So with all the tragedies no matter where they be

We have an asset and that is, our empathy

For if we feel it and show it to all abound

It's like love and what comes, goes around

We can now spread our care around the world

Social media, telephones to each boy and girl

Instead of focussing on a hole that someone dug

We can teach others, even the puzzled- how to hug

It wont happen this decade nor overnight

so trauma and fear will remain our plight

But one day long since we've sown the seed 

Many more humans will possess empathy

That day in the future beyond our time

Will have less troubled, violence and zero crime

A day us humans reflect upon some with too few hugs

Becomes a day the troubled, will only have love...

TonyWK

[mmMekitty]

Thank you, Sophie M, for this space.

& TonyWK. for your poem.

The sadness I feel for the people who lost their live, the people injured & with a road to recovery, sadness for how many friends, family & community members who have been effected, is in no way mitigated by the sorrow I feel for the loss of a man to his mental illness, his mother, who I saw briefly on tele, a woman who I suspect, lost her son to his mental illness years ago. Yeas, I feel for them, too.

I was heartened to see how members of the public, & essential workers, were able to protect, assist, tend & care for people around them. It's situations like these which bring out the very best in some people, which teach us how we can be resilient with the support of others. 

It's times like these when we can become aware of feelings of connectedness with people we have never known.

 have often felt I don't feel much of a connection with the world & it's people, but my essential humanity has reminded me, there is something there. I could not have felt so upset without our shared humanity.

Yet, I am challenged to look at my own feelings, again, in response to another incident & the immediate response to it.... which this thread was not posted here to address. It's so hard to reconcile such disparate behaviours. I don't understand, wondering, what were some people thinking, doing what they have done.

There has been a lot to take in this week. My feelings are pulled this way & that. Without some distractions, like continuing to look after myself, meals, exercise, personal care, & trying to get enough sleep, & not spending more than half an hour watching the news, I am not sure how I'd be coping right now. I feel I've had to cope with quite enough this week & I want a break. May I suggest, get away from seeing more & more details, discussion, interviews, - including after reading here - & do something different, something that brings you to a place of calm & which nourishes your mind/body/soul., 

Hugzies to everyone,

mmMekitty

[Fiatlux]

Thank you for this post.

I have watched and read so much about this awful attack and murder of so many people. Every single person in the shopping mall that day has been affected and for some their lives will never ever be the same again.

The survivors who are recovering in hospital from physical wounds, their lives are changed forever.

To the youngest survivor, 9 month old baby girl, who has been a victim of such a horrific attack before her 1st birthday. She will never ever fully recover and the loss of her mother will be a constant daily reminder of this tragedy.

To the brave people who stood in the way and tried to protect others and stop the attacks.

To the brave Police who acted on that day and possibly saved many more lives by ending another.

The one saving grace is that it is mostly over for us spectators in that we do not have to watch and wait for a criminal trial.

It has made me more and more isolated and my anxiety about leaving the house more difficult. 

Take care everyone and peace and love to you all. Fiatlux 🙏🏼💔

[quirkywords]

I stopped watching news a couple of years ago. I often go to that place to visit people I know who live nearby and was planning to be there at that time, but plans changed. Is that luck?

[Fiatlux]

Quirky, I understand about not watching the news. I don’t watch the commercial networks and I do however watch the ABC and SBS and World Watch from different countries.

I switched the television on in the afternoon hoping to watch a game of A League Football when the early stories were being broadcast. I switched over to the football and tried to ignore it.

The luck that you may feel is just that you weren’t meant to be there.

I had similar luck in 2002 when booking a family holiday to Bali. I had a really bad feeling about going so I booked to go to Port Douglas instead. We were safe in Port Douglas, our friends were in Bali and they were fortunate to return home unscathed. Traumatised but safe. 

[Fiatlux]

Hi everyone 

I woke up this morning and an alert on my phone, tells me that today, April 28th is the anniversary of the awful Port Arthur massacre. It has been 24 years.

Today around Australia women , children and men are gathering and marching against violence against women.

It has taken this long for men to stand up and admit that violence against women is a serious problem for men. Men are the problem. 

Listening to the commentary during the Anzac Day parade, it was mentioned that women who served their country were not recognised for far too long. 

I have been to Port Arthur since the massacre but I couldn’t get my legs to take me inside the memorial garden. I stood there with my daughter reading the plaque and we decided that we shouldn’t go in. It was way too sad. Actually that entire place is full of sadness and despair.

I have also visited many war memorials. The last time we were in Sydney, I entered the war memorial with my eldest son and looked up at the ceiling full of gold stars that represent everyone who had died during these awful wars. I burst out crying and my son hugged me. I am so grateful that I have my children.

Have a lovely peaceful Sunday everyone. Fiatlux 🙏🏼