And the difficulties of these times challenge many of us. I myself have had a lot of problems lately with a problematic landlord that might force me to move. I've been sick as a dog for two weeks and the last few years have had a lot of challenges with the job experiences lately too.
Earlier my 18+ year old cat died this year and left my house empty for the first time in twenty years. I'll welcome seeing family this coming weekend, as the last few weeks in Oregon have been tough without even a kitty to give a hug to when I live alone. These difficulties have me appreciate what many are going through right now.
Seeing the story of the mall shooter here in a mall I think that I'd just been Christmas shopping at a year or two ago here in Oregon earlier this week and now this has me wondering how many others out there have situations tons worse than many of us do, and how easy it must be to set them off in times like this if they are already unhinged inside and break up with their girlfriend and get evicted from their places like the killer here was. They might appear "normal" otherwise to many who only see them peripherally as that is the way so many people interact in today's society now.
And I empathize with so many of you that have a hard time wanting to risk trying to get any where close to people you don't know or who you are concerned about, with what has been going on lately. We need a solution to help bring people together as you said. It's going to take some creativity so that everyone can feel safe and also feel a part of something too that works for the collective whole of our communities.