Ready for fun? Memorial day weekend is the OFFICIAL start of summer and it is upon us right now!

I am SO excited for this holiday because it brings back so many memories for me. It’s about family, barbeques, beach trips, fireworks, national events and the start of wearing white pants and shoes!  (Even though I don’t follow the white shoe rule).

Remembering. More than any of that, Memorial Day is really about remembering our soldiers and our great Nation. It’s about remembering all that we have been through, remembering all that we have lost, who we have lost and reminiscing about the great many things we as a nation have overcome resiliently.

“To live in the hearts we leave behind is not to die.” Thomas Campbell.

I remember every year when I was little, my mom would take my sister and I to our hometown Memorial Day parade. It was so fun. Me being a glutton for glitz and glamour – it was all about that – I loved watching the dancers and Twirlers, the marching bands and soldiers. It was really a spectacular sight.

I was so happy to be there and always found a renewed sense of patriotism for all of my rights and my country.  It’s pretty amazing when you think about it; all the sacrifices our soldiers have made to fight for our freedom.  I would like to make a HUGE shout out to the people in my life who fought for our country, my cousin Alex, my Grandpa, my friend Danny from my hometown, my boyfriend’s cousins and so many more people that we all know! Thanks to them for standing up for what they believe in.

Stand up!  How can you stand up for what you believe in?  It can be for our country; our rights, bullying, and it can even be for the little things that go on.  “If you see something, say something” as the NYC subway adage goes. I for one take it to the sometimes-obnoxious extreme, but it’s important – telling a cop EVERYTIME I see an unattended backpack on the subway and even a man with hospital tags and a hospital gown on looking like he just escaped. (This is a good reason to tell the cops, right!) Take a stand for what you feel is right.  I don’t care what people think. I know I will sleep better knowing I did my part.

Don’t get caught in the bystander effect.  When people are in a crowd, or even a group of 3-4 people, responsibility becomes diffused. If this happens, people in a group assume that “someone else will make the call” or “someone else will handle it” or even assume that “someone/the police/the fire department probably already knows/called/etc.” This is best described in the book “The Tipping Point” by Malcom Gladwell and explains an infamous stabbing of Kitty Genovese in NYC in the 60’s.  Read more about it here.  Don’t assume someone else has taken care of it, ever.  Kitty’s death could have been avoided if any one of the thirty-eight witnesses picked up the phone to call the cops, but because of the bystander effect – no one did and everyone assumed “somebody else had”.

In honor of… This Memorial day especially take some time to remember the lives we lost in America, on 9-11, Hurricane Sandy, Sandy Hook Elementary school, the Aurora Movie Theatre, the Boston Marathon, the tornado in Oklahoma and now, off our shores to our friends over in London, the horrific murder of a young soldier.

Some of these things are natural disasters; some are mankind disasters. Although we rarely have any control over these circumstances, when we have the opportunity to help out, in any way possible – do it!

In times like these we sometimes feel helpless, not knowing what we can do.  “All you can do is what you can do”, a yoga teacher once said.

So what can you do?  Ask yourself how can your work be of service to the world, to finding peace or finding hope.  For me it is writing to you here and telling you a little about the bystander effect and how you can stand out from the crowd and make a difference. This is something that really bothers me when sh*t could have been avoided.  I hope you tell a friend, tell a cop when you see something, write a letter to your government if something bothers you, and vote when you have the opportunity to.  Just like the soldiers, we as individuals can fight for what we believe in.

“The secret of happiness is freedom, the secret of freedom is courage.”  Carrie Jones.

Don’t think your voice doesn’t matter, your vote doesn’t count or your cry will not be heard.  It just takes one to make a difference sometimes.  On this Memorial Day, and everyday, be the one.

Hope this inspires you!

Xoxo

Emily