Walking late at night is not so comfortable anymore. Could see clear discomfort when a slow car moved towards a person. He looked back, hesitated, and walked on. Nothing seems to be the same since the Al Wadi Al Kabir incident on July 16. Something changed since that day. A friend expressed how she becomes nervous if the door to the house is left open.
There is a sense of betrayal of trust and a feeling of being let down. Most people are still wondering on what was it all about? Oman is the land of tolerance and cases of violence might be a norm in international news but not at home front.
Even the mental health experts seemed to need time to write about it because they have not been able to come to terms with it.
But we have to move on. We must learn from experiences and as late Sheikh Khalfan al Esry, Oman’s popular life coach and Islamic scholar used to say, ‘Accept the situation, and move on.’
We need not be in denial. There is so much an individual can do, and much more as a family and as a society and as a nation.
During these days we also went through judging people and communities. We were shaken from our comfort zone. The loss of lives have taken its toll too. Sentiments are deep and the wounds can be difficult not to leave a scar but we must collectively heal and maybe one of the best ways is to talk about it and let it out from our mind.
Left alone in the mind these thoughts can build strength that can leave an impact. As people continue to search for answers, the values and sentiments of Oman can bring comfort and that is why the roots are so important. They give direction and they let us stay aligned to our North Star.
In the modern world people often ask why are roots so important? In time of uncertainty the roots give us a chance to regain our balance. This education does not just come from school and educational institutions, it is nourished from home, environment and the society.
We can judge and blame others but we must have patience to look beyond and bring back normalcy in our thoughts. There might be questions like what about others who have gone through so much more? Each with their own battle. We cannot measure and compare because human capacity differs.
Overcoming shocks in life differs too. And we might totally forget and overlook at what young minds are going through. When we look back at our own childhood, we might be able to recollect how we gathered bits of information from here and there while older people discussed.
Of course the difference is today that same age group would have their older siblings being updated with information from social media - with endless discussions and reels.
Where we stand is important and to know that one of the best ways could be to have open discussions within the family first.
According to experts, ‘resilience building involves increasing the capacity of communities potentially exposed to hazards to resist, adapt and recover.’ The hazard here of course is the incident itself, which turned out to be a traumatic experience.
Al Wadi Al Kabir, a place filled with childhood memories, a gentle town, was for few hours under a shocking experience.
But each situation is different and each community has its own sequence to recovery and we are in the midst of that.
One thing is important and that is to stay connected with family and friends. There is nothing like having soulful conversations. Of course, an important element is to listen in and reflect. But that requires calmness with plenty of patience thrown in.
We need to look at the bright side again and hope for the best. Most importantly we have all learned lessons since that day because we have had a flood of thoughts and sure all of us have gone through analysis and self-analysis. And we will continue to do that until one fine day before we know we will move on.
For now, the question is, ‘What could take our minds off it?’
can you give aheader
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