Special Episode: Feeling Helpless in the Midst of the Mass Shootings? Here’s How You Can Help
Evelyn Dieckhaus, 9 years old
William Kinney, 9 years old
Hallie Scruggs, 9 years old
Katherine Koonce, 60 years old
Cynthia Peak, 61 years old
Mike Hill, 61 years old
Today we say their names and honor all the names that came before them. Today we talk about the change that needs to happen in this country. Today we talk about how everything you do is contagious, how kindness and cruelty have equal ripple effects.
Listen as Erin shares the message that she was called to give today. It starts with us.
ICYMI – Your Post-Episode Homework: Do one small act of kindness for someone you know or a stranger. Share this episode with someone who could benefit from its message.
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Connect with Erin Diehl:
Connect with Erin Diehl:
Email Erin: info@learntoimproveit.com
Erin Diehl is the founder and Chief “Yes, And” officer of improve it! and host of the improve it! Podcast. She’s a performer, facilitator and professional risk-taker who lives by the mantra, “get comfortable with the uncomfortable.” Through a series of unrelated dares, Erin has created improve it!, a unique professional development company that pushes others to laugh, learn and grow. Her work with clients such as United Airlines, PepsiCo, Groupon, Deloitte, Motorola, Walgreens, and The Obama Foundation earned her the 2014 Chicago RedEye Big Idea Award and has nominated her for the 2015-2019 Chicago Innovations Award.
This graduate from Clemson University is a former experiential marketing and recruiting professional as well as a veteran improviser from the top improvisational training programs in Chicago, including The Second City, i.O. Theater, and The Annoyance Theatre.
When she is not playing pretend or facilitating, she enjoys running and beach dates with her husband and son, and their eight-pound toy poodle, BIGG Diehl.
You can follow the failed it! podcast on Instagram @learntoimproveit and facebook, and you can follow Erin personally on Instagram @keepinitrealdiehl here. You can also check out improve it! and how we can help your organization at www.learntoimproveit.com. We can’t wait to connect with you online!
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Special Episode Transcription
Erin (00:00):
Improve it peeps. I am coming at you today, as you may tell, with a different type of show. If you are a regular here on the Improve It Podcast, I wanna say number one, thank you for clicking play on this episode. Thank you for being here and investing in yourself. Know that today's episode is a bit different, and if you're new here and this is your first time listening to the show, welcome. The Root of the Improve It Podcast is built in professional and personal development, and today's topic could not be more close to that route than ever. You saw the title of the show, so you know that this episode is dealing with a very serious problem in our country, so it's going to be a bit different. I'm feeling a lot of feels for my improve it! Peeps who know me. This episode has truly been given to me to share to you.
Erin (01:14):
I feel called to share this message today. I feel called to give this guidance to you, and I feel called to sit on this microphone and have to discuss a really hard topic, a polarizing topic in our country, which let me start by saying this. This episode is not about gun control because I am a firm believer in gun control and gun reform. I believe we have a huge problem in this country, and I believe that because it is shown in the data and the number of school shootings that we are constantly seeing come up in our news, in our communities and in our country. And if you don't agree with me, please stop listening to the show. Or actually, please listen. Please listen.
Erin (02:09):
I'm not here to persuade you that you need to think about gun control differently. That is not the narrative that I'm here to do today. I believe that we need it and I believe that we need it now. And there are so many amazing voices out there screaming for gun control and different legislation and gun reform, and I want to amplify those voices. I am here for those voices, but that's not my megaphone. I needed to get that out there so you know where I'm coming from because I have a message for you today that can be easily remedied. That if you're a person sitting at home and you keep reading the news and the headlines and you feel helpless and you feel hopeless and you don't know what you can do other than vote, I've got an answer and it's easy and it's free.
Erin (03:06):
The message that I'm here to give you today are three simple fundamentals that are easily talked about, easily discussed, but are not implemented on a dayday. These three fundamentals that I'm gonna share with you have the opportunity to change the world, and as the person, the messenger relaying this message to you, I want you to take heed and give this message to others. I know my improve at peeps listening to this show. I know you and you care about people, you care about the world, you care about making it a better place, and that's what this message is here to do.
Erin (03:55):
Three simple fundamentals. And I gotta tell you, I'm just gonna tell you this topic is hard for me to discuss, and I say that because it comes with a lot of opinions. I'm not here to go back and forth on the internet about gun control. I'm not here to go back and forth with people who don't believe that senseless acts of violence are wrong and they need to be stopped. What I am here to do is to go and spread this message. So here it is. Three simple, simple fundamentals that can change your life, that can change your family's life, that can change your community's life, that can change your team's life, and they're so simple. The first one is love again. You're like, okay, this love, Erin, great. How is this gonna stop? What's going on in our world? What's going on in our country? The USA specifically America? Just hear me out. Love starts with us. It starts in our hearts, it starts in our communities. When we feel love, we give love. Love is what makes us connect to each other, to ourselves. Love is what makes us feel seen, heard, and valued. Love is the bridge between our ego, our negative self-talk and our truest highest self-acceptance.
Erin (05:45):
So keep listening. I promise you this is gonna come to a top peak. I'm getting you there. The second fundamental is kindness. Kindness has been the fundamental of belonging since day one. When we are shown how to be kind, when we receive kindness, we want to give it. Kindness is contagious. When you feel positive energy and love giving through this lens of kindness towards yourself, it changes the way you feel. And generally, when we feel good, that output is good. Kindness is contagious. It spreads, it destroys evil, and it is good. The third fundamental here is compassion. Compassion is the enemy of evil. Compassion is what we call an improv. Yes, and ending each other. What it means, it's, it's saying, Hey, I see and hear what you said. I'm gonna support you. I'm gonna give you that love, that compassion. I'm gonna see what your journey is and I'm gonna support you through that. Let me hold your hand, let me make space for you, let guide you and help you back to your home, which is your higher self.
Erin (07:22):
Now, I want you to think about this. These three fundamentals love, kindness, compassion. What if these three values were shown in humanity? What if they were shown in your community? What if they were shown by every single person in your organization, in your team? How would that change the world? I know it would stop senseless arguments. It would stop negative comments on the internet. It would stop senseless violence and shootings and it could stop war. I found some really interesting data about mental health, and when we're talking about this idea of mass shootings and senseless acts of violence, I think you'll find this study super interesting. Research from Columbia University found that of 1800 mass murders, only 8% of mass shooters were diagnosed with a severe mental illness such as schizophrenia or severe bipolar disorder. Here's where this really becomes interesting. The path of violence often begins with early childhood trauma. At a young age, 42% of all mass shooters experienced physical abuse, sexual abuse, parental suicide, or were a victim of severe bullying, and these researchers say, if unaddressed later in life, the trauma can feed a perpetrator's rage. This episode is coming out in the wake of a recent shooting in Nashville, Tennessee
Erin (09:44):
By a person named Aubrey who was found on the internet to be transgender and went by the name Aiden on social media. For the purpose of this conversation, I'm going to call Aubrey Aiden to honor that want. Aiden was a 28 year old citizen of the United States. As we now know, Aiden was transgender. What if Aiden had been shown kindness, compassion, and love his entire life? Would he have committed this act? I'm pausing right now. You're getting this pregnant pause because I truly believe that Aiden was hurt. Hurt people, hurt people because of the difference that Aiden carried with him through his life because Aiden couldn't fully be. Aiden was a Aiden bullied in that school, was Aiden angered and enraged and bothered by the way that he was treated. I am keen to say that Aiden did not feel these fundamentals of love, kindness, and compassion in his formative years. Does this mean that Aiden should have committed the senseless act of violence that he did in the Nashville School shooting?
Erin (11:38):
Does this mean that Aiden should have killed innocent lives? Does this mean that Aiden should have committed this act of violence that will forever be ingrained in these family's lives, the community and the school? Absolutely not. No. It is a horrific act. This community, these families, the world is feeling the pain and we are scarred. Imagine if the opposite were true. Imagine if Aiden went to school and is able to be Aiden. Imagine if Aiden is shown love at every place, at every corner of his life, from his home to his school, to his community. What if Aiden was shown this kindness, love, and compassion throughout every area of his childhood and into his twenties? What if Aiden feels like he belongs to his community, that he has purpose in helping others find their way? Would Aiden have purchased these guns? Would Aiden have committed such an act? I know we could sit here and what if all day, but if you stop and pause to think of a time when someone treated you with love, when you didn't feel lovable, when someone showed you kindness, when you didn't feel deserving, or when somebody offered you compassion without expecting anything in return, what did that do for you? We have to stop diminishing the power of caring for one another and lifting one another up.
Erin (13:35):
We know backed by science and data that many years of anger manifest into disease, to mental illness, to physical illness, to strife, to depression, to anxiety. What if Aiden was never bullied in school? What if Aiden was strong in his purpose because he was allowed to be his full self and carry that purpose to fruition? Could his life have been different? Could he have changed his life for the better? Could he have not wanted to buy a gun and commit this senseless act of violence in the first place? The answer lies here, my friends, we are the answer. It starts with us in our homes, in our communities, how we raise our children and how we show up for our friends, our families, for the people we lead. It starts here. Kindness, love, and compassion. Start here. So if you are like me and you are feeling hopeless, if you feel like you're screaming into a void and don't know how to take any type of action towards positive change, be kind. Do something for somebody in your life. Buy bye. Somebody in the Starbucks line of coffee, take something to your elderly neighbor. Show a listening ear to a friend who is going through a tough time. Be there and show kindness. Show compassion. Before you go to judge, I want you to put yourself in the shoes of the person that you are judging. How can you listen and support them? How can you not judge and show empathy? We can fight on the internet or we can fight the battle
Erin (15:56):
Of hate in our world with love, compassion, and kindness. Imagine if this was the way that every single person showed up. What if this was how we treated each other every single day? Would it want to make us reach for a gun? Would it want to make us wanna fight with rhetoric on a platform that is really meant for connection? I know that we know the answer. If you're feeling hopeless, you can of course vote to change gun legislation. You can voice your opinion. These things are free. But what leads us to ultimate freedom? A world where we get to choose and what if the choices we made and the choices from every single person were love, kindness, and compassion. Improve it peeps. I keep it real with you always. I am feeling extremely emotional today. I dropped my son off at school with the privilege of having my son in my arms the night before at home this morning with safety and security in this home. I watched him walk into school this morning and I hugged him as he walked in the door and I just said, be kind. Show kindness. That is it. That is the answer. And it starts with us. If we can make every single person feel better after leaving our presence, that tiny, tiny ray of hope for somebody could be all that it means to change the course of their day. That tiny ed of compassion could be what stops them from going to purchase a gun. That tiny feeling of love and connection could be what changes the trajectory of their life. So if you are feeling hopeless, I want you to show kindness, love, and compassion today and always.
Erin (18:55):
I love you and I mean that with my whole heart. I hope you feel love, kindness, and compassion from this show. And if you're new to this show, know that you'll be welcomed in whatever way, shape or form you are here today. We will wrap you with love. We will give you kindness, and we will compassionately sit with you on your growth journey. Thank you for listening to this show. And if it moved you, my ask is that you spread it. You spread love, kindness, and compassionate. It could be by sharing this episode. It could be by posting something that spreads love and kindness on social media today. It could be by hugging a neighbor, hugging a friend, telling a team member that they're doing a great job, spread love. I love you. Be kind. Be compassionate. The world needs you're very special. It that only you can bring. I'll see you soon.