Though there are many times since I started working for BlogHer I've wished I could look away from Twitter and the news, paying attention to the world is an occupational hazard for me. And I have anxiety disorder and many times intrusive thoughts, which means I find it difficult to stop thinking about the horrible thing that has happened and worrying it will happen again, and then about the people to whom it happened, worrying, worrying into a spiral that leaves me with racing heart and seizing gut, and in those times I find it difficult to model coping skills for my daughter (although, as with Newtown, we've kept the TV off around her and will only talk to her about it if she brings it up, because we prefer to shield her from unnecessary news of this kind). I know I can't change the world we live in, and awareness of all the horror that goes on in the world only gets higher with each posting online. This won't change, and my girl will probably have ten times as much coming at her from all corners of the world by the time she is my age. I need to get the anxiety under control, and I need to teach her how to filter her world the way my mother taught me how to check a garment for holes before buying it. This is our world now.

So here's how you look at this picture.

Image credit: hahatango on Flickr

The runner in the yellow shoes and other spectators on the ground with someone hurt.

The guy holding the small child, taking him away from the scene.

The spectators in the yellow and black jackets leaning over to help.

The guy in jeans who took off his shirt, probably to make a tourniquet.

The police in yellow vests waching over the scene making sure there was no riot.

We can't shut out the world in the window. We have to be aware of our surroundings. But we can hold the right focus on these events. We can look at the majority of people in the picture who just wanted to help.