'If you do good, you'll feel good.'

It has been six days since the shootings in Newtown, CT. Six days for you to cry. Six days for you to hug your children, your loved ones. What about six days to do some good?

I find myself coming to this blog during times of tragedy and loss. I never intended it to be that way. My sister sent me a text message the day of the shootings. All it said was "MOTUS". I knew that this was where I should share my feelings, but I wasn't ready to do so, yet.

I went in to work on Sunday morning at 3am to cover the event. I thought reporting on the tragedy might give me inspiration to address my friends and family (or whoever reads this blog), but I ended up just becoming more and more emotional as I sat and listened to interview upon interview of families and friends who had lost their loved ones. Even my boss, who came in to relieve me Sunday morning so I could go to church, told me he had never felt so emotionally connected to a story besides 9-11. He worked and lived in Washington, DC on 9-11, next door to the Pentagon. Of course, he felt a strong connection then. This time he felt that tug because he couldn't get the image of his 5-year-old son out of his head every time he looked at the TV.

Having dismissed all thoughts of ever writing something uplifting, my mom gave me just the inspiration I needed in a text message. We were on the phone together when she abruptly said, "Hold on. Hold on. Hold on!" (I was in the middle of a comment.) "I have to go. They're doing an important segment on the news." She hung up. The text message came a couple of minutes later. Here is what it said:

This was just the inspiration I needed, and apparently, the world needed. While reporting in Newtown, CT, Ann Curry wondered what she could do in order to help. Here is what she did, an excerpt from an NBC News blog:

"'What if? Imagine if everyone could commit to doing one act of kindness for every one of those children killed in Newtown.' So that's what I tweeted. And guess what? People committed. I said in my tweet, 'I'm in. RT if you're in.'"

She went on to write that people have taken the challenge and made it their own. Many have not only committed to do good for every child, but for the adults who were killed, even the mother of the shooter and the shooter himself. People have such huge hearts. They know that everyone involved is heartbroken.

My favorite part of her challenge is her promise:

"I know the truth: if you do good, you feel good. It's the most selfish thing you can do. Right now, this country wants to heal. I think the only thing comforting in the face of a tragedy like this is to do something good with it if you can. Be a part of that wave."

Isn't that the truth? I am committed to do good. Start your acts of kindness today, to help yourself and our nation heal.

Share what you are doing. #28actsofkindness #motus

Thanks Giving

Have you ever met someone who immediately reflects a certain light? The second you see them or speak to them you know they are just "good"? I have met many throughout my short life, but one person in particular is on my mind this week.

Rachelle Morris and I met during what BYU calls, "Y Weekend". It was a silly recruiting weekend where nerds, like ourselves, were invited to check out the college campus, attend a class, cheer at a football game, convince us to attend. (I'm not sure they really had to do much convincing, I think both Rachelle and I were planning on going there from the start.) Rachelle immediately made everyone around her feel like they were her best friend. She was eager to learn about each timid potential student and help them feel comfortable in their own skin. It is no wonder she quickly thrived in college and I always loved interacting with her any chance I had.

Fast forward to today. I don't know everything that is happening, but what I do know is that Rachelle is sitting in a hospital in Vegas. Unlike the rest of us, who are peeling potatoes for tomorrows dinner or cuddling up on a couch with our loved ones to watch our favorite holiday movie, Rachelle is sitting next to her brother who has undergone life saving surgery.

On Tuesday, a tragic car accident brought Rachelle to her current location. The accident took her younger sister's life. Her brother and his fiance were taken to the nearest hospital. The three of them were traveling to Arizona for the holidays. Rachelle immediately arrived in Vegas to be with her brother. Gratefully, her brother is expected to make a full recovery and his fiance sustained no serious physical injuries. This unexpected and horrifying event brought a small group of friends and family to Vegas to help these siblings through the experience.

What I also know is that to these siblings, Rachelle was like a mother. The older of the three, it was so apparent how proud she was of them. As I write this, I can't help but think back to a comment she made about an earlier MOTUS post. She posted,

"Totally love the #motus cause. One of these days I'll be able to join you. Keep it up!"

Rachelle, I am joining you my friend, you are a mother. You are an incredible example to me this holiday season as I think of you, the rock for your family, sitting next to your brother, holding his hand, as you both think how grateful you are to still have each other. And especially grateful for the beautiful years you shared with your lovely sister.

I received a short note from her in a group email last night that sent me to bed in tears. I am so thankful for my family, so thankful for my friends, so thankful for my faith that assures me life is eternal and families are forever.

Taylor and Madeline Morris

Please take a moment to be thankful for what you have and what you get to keep. And, if you are capable, please take a moment to give. I can't do much for Rachelle while I am a state away, but finances is the last thing we, as friends, want her to worry about on Thanksgiving day. Follow the link below if you would like to help.

Thanks giving for the Morris family.

Thank you

Thank you to everyone who shared their voting stories. Follow up post coming soon.

It's up to you

It's election day. I don't know about you, but I barely slept last night. I was up every hour; Christmas came early for me this morning. The alarm clock went off at 2am and I bounded out of bed to get ready for election coverage. I count myself very fortunate this morning, covering the Presidential election from the nation's capitol for a well-respected national network. As I showered, brushed my teeth, threw on my red, white and blue (go America and color coordinating!), my only thought was, "You need to write about this monumental experience, Darien."

If you don't read any further, read this: PLEASE, VOTE! Today is one of the most important opportunities to unite with your country and share your voice. At a time when the country is divided, completely split on their opinion of who should be in the Oval Office for the next four years, the least we can do is unite as voters at the polls today, even if we may disagree on who we will be voting for.

I would love to share your voting stories here. Please tell us:

• Who you took to the polls with you: your daughter, your son, your husband, your grandma, your friend.
• Take a picture: your voting sticker, your 7 hour line, your red, white and blue.
• Tell me about the new friend you met in line today.
• For you undecided voters: share that moving moment that inspired your decision today.
• For you mothers: how did your family play in to the decision you made today to vote?

Leave a comment here, tag me in a post on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or #motus.

Facebook: Darien Carroll Laird
Instagram: darienlaird
Twitter: @darienlaird

The true hero rises

At the end of a long day, the final news resonated in homes around the world: 12 lives were lost in the Colorado tragedy and several more are still in the hospital. The man who entered the theater with guns fully loaded told police later he was there as "The Joker." 

Christopher Nolan, the filmmaker whose Batman trilogy concludes with "Dark Knight Rises," responded to the connection and the event in a statement:

“Speaking on behalf of the cast and crew of ‘The Dark Knight Rises,’ I would like to express our profound sorrow at the senseless tragedy that has befallen the entire Aurora community..."

"... I believe movies are one of the great American art forms and the shared experience of watching a story unfold on screen is an important and joyful pastime. The movie theater is my home, and the idea that someone would violate that innocent and hopeful place in such an unbearably savage way is devastating to me.”

On a personal note, my sister is in the film business and I know that like Christopher Nolan, she has a special place for the theater. She is working in Hollywood around the likes of Nolan and many more. But more importantly she lost a friend in the shooting. She attended high school with him, he spent time in our home and she found out about his loss just this evening.

I love movies, my career is driven by the media and my family is inspired by music. Entertainment is a huge part of my life, but it raises a big dilemma. Here are the questions I raise to you:

1) How do you find a balance between entertainment and real life?
2) How do you teach and define that balance in your own home?
3) Do you think movies characterizing heroes and villains are inherently good or bad for society?

Waking up to nothing at home, chaos in Colorado

No alarm went off. No baby crying. I just woke up at 5:45 am and checked my phone, like I always do when I wake up at crazy hours, to see two alerts about a shooting in Aurora, Colorado. 14 dead, 50 injured. My first reaction was to turn the television on.

I'm downstairs watching cell phone video, witnesses, police officers at a movie theater playing the new Batman film. A gunman came in to a packed theater at a midnight showing. He was caught and is in his early twenties. He went in to the theater prepared to kill: wearing a bullet proof vest, a riot helmet, carrying three guns and setting off some sort of gas bombs.

All of this is early information, but as I sit and listen I have two thoughts:

First, the only thing I heard when I came downstairs was that a baby was shot, bullet holes in her back, and was carried out of the theater by a police officer. She was the first to leave the theater, before anything else was under control, but wasn't moving. That's when I thought, my baby. Every person in there is someone's baby and at some point I will do the same thing and let my baby go to a theater for some midnight showing, or go to the mall, or get on a plane by herself. Life is so unpredictable, not only for the people who tragically end up in these horrible places, but for the people who lose their loved ones.

Second, the same sick feeling came back to me that I felt on a cold morning in May when I covered a surprise shooting in Idaho Falls. It was on a much smaller scale, but the details seem so similar.

I was the first reporter on the scene. I was there right behind the first fire truck. A fire had been called in by a neighbor. The home sat in a small quiet neighborhood. The only evidence of something different was a car pulled up with out of town license plates. Just like in any breaking news situation the details came slowly, but during a 12 hour period I learned that the family inside was all killed by someone they knew. A man entered with the intention to kill his girlfriend and their two kids. They were found shot in their beds. Unfortunately, her sister was in the home at the time and she also fell a victim of his anger. He set the home on fire once he had finished what he came to do and shot himself.

In the early hours of the incident I discovered that one person was found alive, but injured by a bullet wound. Everyone seemed to be praying that it was one of the children, but it was the shooter. It was hard not feeling something horrible for him, but I didn't have to face that dilemma for long because he died quickly in the hospital.

The worst part of the day was interviewing the neighbors in the rural neighborhood. I learned upon interviewing just one or two people that most didn't know the family well, but what they did know is that the young mom's parents were away from the home where they all lived together. They were in Salt Lake City to get a special cancer treatment for the father. He was in the middle of it when they finally discovered the identity of the mother, sister and two kids. It wasn't until hours later that they told both the father and mother because they didn't want to interrupt his treatment.

People's hearts were aching all over the city as they watched this horrible scene unfold, just like I'm feeling right now for the people in Aurora, Colorado. As a reporter in Idaho at my own smaller scale tragedy, I felt like I was a part of the shooting. An outsider, yes, but in those 12 cold hours I had never felt more connected to a story I covered as I listened to the slow updates and the frightened neighbors, and prayed for the victims and their oblivious parents a state away.

The light in all this, which is often hard to find in the heat of the moment, is that the city rallied around these parents, like I had never seen before. I can only imagine the incredible stories that will come out of this shooting. People who carried the injured out. Men and women who covered their children or strangers next to them. Defenseless outsiders who ran in to help. Brave police officers and EMTs who entered the theater with no knowledge of whether the gunman was still shooting. And then there will be the stories that touch you for months, years to come, as the community recovers and grows.

The Jerry Sandusky Trial

For the past three days I have been covering the Jerry Sandusky trial. He is the former assistant Penn State football coach with 52 charges of sexual child abuse.

If you want to know the details, here are a couple of articles that give a fair synopsis of what is going on:

Accusers say they were lured by attention, gifts 
Alleged Sandusky victim details abuse

It is difficult for me to want to share anything from the trial because reading through the testimony from the alleged victims has been a grueling process. No one wants to hear the details of sexual abuse, but nonetheless, here are the basics:

• 10 alleged victims have come forward -- abused as boys (10-13), they are now men (18-25), some married with children
• Jerry Sandusky knew the alleged victims through a non-profit he founded
• Penn State has records of reports that Sandusky was involved with these boys, but covered it up and did not take action
• Jerry Sandusky continues to say he isn’t guilty

There are pros and cons to our legal system. For one, we know it will be a fair trial for the victims and for Jerry Sandusky. Unfortunately, a fair trial often means a long trial. That means you will hear about the case for another 3-4 weeks.

That said, let's move on from the graphic details of what these alleged victims are sharing and talk about what we can learn from horrific moments like this trial. Here are my questions for you:

1)      How do you protect your kids, family, nieces, and nephews from incidents like this?
2)      Is this a problem in our society that keeps you up at night or do you choose to ignore it (because of its horrific nature)?
3)      What about Jerry Sandusky’s wife? What do you think her roll has been?
4)      How could you step in and make a difference as a wife or mother or roll model in this situation? To prevent it, to solve the problem, or to interfere if you were aware something like this was going on?

As Close As You Can Get

CNN conducts what they call a "poll of polls" where they take an average of all of the national polls released on a specific subject. Here is the latest poll of polls released 1) five months before the election and 2) right after the May unemployment numbers were released (only 69,000 jobs were added during the month for the entire country).

CNN Poll of Polls
June 3-9
Registered Voters' Choice for President

Obama  45%
Romney  45%

Nothing more to say about those numbers. Get ready for a crazy summer and fall.

The polls: Fox News (June 3-5), Monmouth University (June 4-6) and the Gallup daily tracking poll (June 3-9).

VEEPstakes

It is almost a sure bet Mitt Romney will be running against President Obama on the November ballot, but who will be running with Romney?

Friday, June 8, a group of conservative republicans in Chicago filled out a “straw poll” to decide who they would pick for the Romney's VP.

straw poll = a poll that doesn’t have binding results, meant to bring up discussion/conversation about a topic

So, let’s start our own discussion.

Here is the list of potential Vice President candidates (in no particular order) they included in this straw poll:

1. Sen. Kelly Ayotte
2. Congresswoman Michele Bachmann
3. Gov. Sam Brownback
4. Former Gov. Jeb Bush
5. Businessman Herman Cain
6. Gov. Chris Christie
7. Gov. Mitch Daniels
8. Former Speaker Newt Gingrich
9. Gov. Nikki Haley
10. Former Gov. Mike Huckabee
11. Gov. Bobby Jindal
12. Sen. Ron Johnson
13. Gov. John Kasich
14. Gov. Susana Martinez
15. Gov. Bob McDonnell
16. Sen. Rand Paul
17. Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty
18. Gov. Rick Perry
19. Sen. Rob Portman
20. Sen. Marco Rubio
21. Congressman Paul Ryan
22. Former Sen. Rick Santorum
23. Gov. Scott Walker
24. Other:

Mitt Romney is the one who will make the final decision and he doesn’t have to stick to the above list, but people sure like to guess and talk about it.

Be a part of the MOTUS straw poll and leave a comment.

1)      Who would you like to see chosen as the Republican nominee for Vice President?
2)      How many people on this list do you even know?
3)      Which name(s) do you not recognize or want to know more about? (Don’t feel bad, the official straw poll that was passed around in Chicago had a misspelled name, so apparently it is common.)

MOTUSing: Four women are on this list. Last presidential election season was the first time a female represented the Republican party on the ballot during the general election. The Democratic party has yet to have a female on a presidential ballot. They were close with Hillary Clinton, which may still be a possibility in 2016.