We ARE the World.

The news sucks. Since 3:00 this afternoon, I've read about the horrific way a woman with mental disabilties was tortured, murdered, and left in a parking lot, about another campus shooting - this time the victims and murderer were faculty members, and about a terrible accident on the luge.

Is it any wonder I - and such a huge percentage of other humans - am depressed? A while back, I made a decision to hide my head in the sand and not read the news. I was banking on the theory that ignorance is bliss. I found it nearly unavoidable to hide from the media and reports of all the awful things that happen in this world.

I often find myself just wanting to run and hide, to drift away, to go far, far away from the awfulness of life.

But what if I can make a difference? What if, by chance, my attitude affects just the right person? Good or bad? Who am I to give up? I become the rest of the bad news. A mortality of the media. A statistic.

I know it is sappy and it is cheesy, but I'm watching the Olympics. And I watched the new video - the 25th anniversary of We are the World. And it reminded me of the hope I felt all those years ago. How amazing it was to see all of those singers together for a common goal.

I'm not so naive to think that the answer is all that easy. But really, what if everyone else was thinking that. That it was possible to unite as one world. And I let them down because I was the only one who didn't believe.

I don't think I want to take that chance. Count me in.