About Last Week

Just a couple of words about how we respond to the horrific events of last week.

The Digital Party was conceived in the depths of COVID as a means to stop my constant doom scrolling, take a break, clear my mind of the P’s (politics and the pandemic) and focus on something else for a short period of time before Life took over again. That philosophy remains the same.

The other aspect of the Digital Party was my wish to chronicle the events and undercurrents of the new twenties. One phenomenon I’ve witnessed since the pandemic has been the rapidity with which people check in on each other after a major event. So technology has allowed us to engage with quick texts and emails. We need compassion during trauma. Perhaps the practice of getting in touch with friends and family is our modern way to show it.

When my father died in 2017, many people wrote to me afterwards.  I remember them all.  I was not upset by those who didn’t. But those who did, turned from acquaintances into friends, or friends to better ones just with a few sentences. In a moment when everything seems amplified by social media and screaming headlines, it is the personal message that provides comfort to another person. It’s not a given and shouldn’t turn into a mandatory exercise, but if the impulse is there to say something kind to someone, simply to check in on them, then I think it’s one to act on.