Listen to Doreen’s Story

“this particular photo is me recognizing someone in our community who I didn't know very well, but I recognized her and we looked at each other and we just we knew that we both were in healing fields and we just knew that we had each other's back.”

- Doreen Bonnet

Doreen 

My name is Doreen Bonnet and I remember this day well. I remember the day after the rally. And it's the place where Heather was killed. And you know, we had a shared experience in that moment, this collective grief that was happening in our community. And just to be next to other people who were feeling what we all were feeling, this sadness, it was very solemn and just to be connected with people who are experiencing what you experiencing. And this particular photo is me recognizing someone in our community who I didn't know very well, but I recognized her and we looked at each other and we just we knew that we both were in healing fields and we just knew that we had each other's back. You know, it was just this familiar feeling of, like, this is our community. We're here to help each other. We're here to support each other, and we're here to comfort each other and just be with each other as we are experiencing the horrific things that have happened. I remember everything being very loud in terms of what we were hearing in the media, you know, conversations. It was just so much. And I finally had to come to a place within myself to just stay centered and be able to respond to circumstances from that centered space. And that was probably the most healing thing for me. And it's always, you know, when I when I talk to other people about any type of experience that’s traumatic and they were not sure what to do, it's like: come to your place of your center, whatever that might be, come to your safe place and check within and see what is the right thing for you to do in that moment. And it could be anything. It could be you go in the streets and you protest. It could be you stay at home and write and journal. It could be that you're serving people who are going out on a protest, maybe you're making something for them. So whatever that is for you in that moment, that's what you do. But come from your center and decide what it is that is meant for you to do, you specifically in that moment. There's still a lot to do in terms of understanding each other and understand people's unique experiences that may be different than your own. And really give space to how that impact their lives and then be willing to make changes in how you are make changes in systems that you have an impact on so that we can all experience the sense of equality that we all want to experience, the sense of equity that we want to experience, and so that, you know, outcomes in all fronts will be better.

Music credit: Heath Cantu / Waning Winds / courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com