1.Systemic Injustice – A good friend lost his good friend to gun violence this week. I am able to sit on my deck or in my front yard and not have to worry about a car rolling up and opening fire. I just can’t imagine the trauma one suffers living in a neighborhood where that is a regular occurrence. Yet that is the reality for far too many.
2.Intergenerational Transmission of Trauma – The shooting has me wrestling with the intergenerational transmission of trauma and its effects on communities. Link to a powerful study by the National Institute of Health.
3. Alcoholism – I worked on cases where the Department on Children and Families came down hard on parents for empty beer cans in the recycling bin. Now instagramming standing in line at breweries during a work day doesn’t raise an eyebrow. From my practice, the impacts of alcohol use are widely under appreciated by society at large.
4. Media Consumption – I’ve recently made two longer road trips. And neither time was I scanning for local radio stations. I will not yearn for the days of yesteryear.
5. Cause for Optimism – Seeing more and more (what used to be plastic utensils) made of biodegradable vegetable compounds. This is good. We need less plastic.