Once upon a time, I was a paramedic; perhaps the only thing I was ever really good at. The season between Thanksgiving and New Years was always a vicious non-stop horror show awash in domestic violence, suicides, homicides, OD’s and anguished mental health meltdowns. Tinseled bloody death beneath the festive glow of the Christmas tree, Bing Cosby dreaming of a white Christmas and the shocked survivors huddled crying in the corner. Many years have passed, yet this season still engenders a deep, abiding sense of profound sadness in me. May all beings everywhere plagued with sufferings of the body and mind be quickly freed of their illnesses. May the frightened cease to be afraid, and may the bound go free. May the powerless find power, And may the people think of befriending one another.
