Shock, heartbreak, confusion—so many emotions grip us after devastating acts of violence, especially ones that strike so close to home. For many LDS performers, the shooting in Las Vegas hit in a place they know well and near where they often perform. Donny Osmond, Dan Reynolds of Imagine Dragons, Brandon Flowers of the Killers, Kaskade, one of the highest paid DJs in the world—these musicians took to social media to share their heartbreaking and inspiring thoughts:
When something graphically inhumane occurs, it feels like the gravity we trust changes. Not only gravity but the sky and the air. We reset to anger and fear, and some of our stronger personality traits kick in. We come out swinging against the perpetrator. We buck against the system that allowed the terrible thing to happen. We pray, or rely on others to do that for us; we tweet about praying and hope that it does the trick. All of us want the terrible thing to make sense somehow and reach for this fracture to be healed. We divide and accuse, we band together and help out.
Simply put, most of us try to find our tribe - the ones who are reacting the same way we are, and look to them to bring gravity, sky and air back to normal.
I feel so sad today, but this mass shooting isn’t about me. I feel so angry today but this violence wasn’t aimed at me. I will pray today but I will not assign any hashtags to my prayer.
This violence and incomprehensible loss of life has changed me today. But even so, I will continue in my life to try to lift the focus to a higher place. I will not succumb to anxiety and anger, I will try harder than before to elevate. I will understand that I am more than an individual who is devastated by an attack on a city that I love, and against people who love the same thing I love: music.
I will make music and I will lead through it. I will be more than an individual who is saddened and angry. Today, I am inspired to become a better person in a world that is calling for exactly that.
We've got heavy hearts. We love you, Las Vegas. — The Killers (@thekillers) October 2, 2017
holding on to these girls a little tighter today. pic.twitter.com/rdxqlasvtF — Dan Reynolds (@DanReynolds) October 2, 2017