Let's Talk about Stockholm
As many of you might have heard, Stockholm, Sweden suffered a terrorist attack this past Friday that unfortunately killed four people, and left many others injured. This is the fourth major attack in Europe over the past year in which the attacker has driven a vehicle through a crowd of people. If you haven't heard about the tragedy in Stockholm, I would suggest reading the following article before continuing with my post: CNN Article- Stockholm Attack
Coincidentally, Kiara and I had planned a trip to Stockholm this past week, and were planning on leaving Friday night after work. I definitely do not want to say that violent attacks are more common, or more likely to happen, in Europe, as I am certainly not qualified to make those claims, however, I have felt the impact of these attacks more so here than I ever have at home. Between defusing a WWII bomb in Dusseldorf, an ax attack in Dusseldorf's central station, and now this terror attack as I was about to leave for a weekend trip, I have been on high alert these past couple months.
The purpose of this post is not to scare anyone, or shine a bad light on Germany or Europe, but rather to comment on my thoughts and feelings during these intense situations.
During times of uncertainty or potentially being unsafe, I have simultaneously loathed and applauded society around me. Of course, feelings of confusion, and hatred towards the attacker(s) is common during such events, but I also found myself feeling that way towards random other individuals that were in no way involved. I was really reflecting on this during my time in Stockholm this past weekend. We stayed very close to the area of the city that was closed off due to the attack, and the fences surrounding the area were constantly flooded with people. The amount of people I saw taking smiling selfies, zooming in on the exact spot the truck drove in to, and lingering to snap pictures for upwards of five minutes, was disheartening. I found myself wondering if they would post those photos on Facebook later with a caption of "So close to where it happened!!".
However, despite the sadness I felt, there was also an overwhelming feeling of love and security. Of course, there was an increased police presence in the area, but I generally felt as though everyone was kinder, gentler, and nicer to each other. I have heard Sweden is one of the happiest countries in the world, and I could feel like kindness of Stockholm's citizens, even despite such tragedy. There were flowers, candles, and memorials set up all throughout the city, as fences were gradually taken down, and people were allowed closer and closer to the area of the attack. On Sunday, as we were leaving for the airport, we ran into a vigil with thousands upon thousands of residents and tourists gathered to pay their respects to the victims, and unite as a city. Despite not understanding any Swedish, I could understand the gravity of the situation, and knew that Stockholm was not going to be broken by this.
So yes, we still decided to take our trip, despite flying in as the manhunt was still underway. I called Kiara to discuss the situation and we agreed on two things, 1) The likelihood of another attack was very slim, considering the increase in police presence in the city, and, I must admit, we had a bit of the "It could never happen to me" mentality, but more importantly, 2) You can't live your life in fear of not knowing what could happen. It would be foolish to let your guard down completely, especially when you feel you might be in danger, but if you succumb to the power of the evil people in the world, you've already let them win.
I'll post later in the week with some pictures from the trip, and information about what we did (because, truthfully, it was SO fun, a must-see city for sure!), but I'll leave you with this beautiful picture I took, and this thought: The world may be in a really rough spot right now, for many different reasons, but if you can challenge yourself to acknowledge the bad, yet focus on spreading the good, I believe you'll live a much happier life.
Coincidentally, Kiara and I had planned a trip to Stockholm this past week, and were planning on leaving Friday night after work. I definitely do not want to say that violent attacks are more common, or more likely to happen, in Europe, as I am certainly not qualified to make those claims, however, I have felt the impact of these attacks more so here than I ever have at home. Between defusing a WWII bomb in Dusseldorf, an ax attack in Dusseldorf's central station, and now this terror attack as I was about to leave for a weekend trip, I have been on high alert these past couple months.
The purpose of this post is not to scare anyone, or shine a bad light on Germany or Europe, but rather to comment on my thoughts and feelings during these intense situations.
During times of uncertainty or potentially being unsafe, I have simultaneously loathed and applauded society around me. Of course, feelings of confusion, and hatred towards the attacker(s) is common during such events, but I also found myself feeling that way towards random other individuals that were in no way involved. I was really reflecting on this during my time in Stockholm this past weekend. We stayed very close to the area of the city that was closed off due to the attack, and the fences surrounding the area were constantly flooded with people. The amount of people I saw taking smiling selfies, zooming in on the exact spot the truck drove in to, and lingering to snap pictures for upwards of five minutes, was disheartening. I found myself wondering if they would post those photos on Facebook later with a caption of "So close to where it happened!!".
However, despite the sadness I felt, there was also an overwhelming feeling of love and security. Of course, there was an increased police presence in the area, but I generally felt as though everyone was kinder, gentler, and nicer to each other. I have heard Sweden is one of the happiest countries in the world, and I could feel like kindness of Stockholm's citizens, even despite such tragedy. There were flowers, candles, and memorials set up all throughout the city, as fences were gradually taken down, and people were allowed closer and closer to the area of the attack. On Sunday, as we were leaving for the airport, we ran into a vigil with thousands upon thousands of residents and tourists gathered to pay their respects to the victims, and unite as a city. Despite not understanding any Swedish, I could understand the gravity of the situation, and knew that Stockholm was not going to be broken by this.
So yes, we still decided to take our trip, despite flying in as the manhunt was still underway. I called Kiara to discuss the situation and we agreed on two things, 1) The likelihood of another attack was very slim, considering the increase in police presence in the city, and, I must admit, we had a bit of the "It could never happen to me" mentality, but more importantly, 2) You can't live your life in fear of not knowing what could happen. It would be foolish to let your guard down completely, especially when you feel you might be in danger, but if you succumb to the power of the evil people in the world, you've already let them win.
I'll post later in the week with some pictures from the trip, and information about what we did (because, truthfully, it was SO fun, a must-see city for sure!), but I'll leave you with this beautiful picture I took, and this thought: The world may be in a really rough spot right now, for many different reasons, but if you can challenge yourself to acknowledge the bad, yet focus on spreading the good, I believe you'll live a much happier life.
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