You don’t have to be tuned in every second of the day. I’ll do it for you. I’ll keep you updated when you’re ready for the news, or we can talk about something else. This idea that we constantly have to be on alert is bad conditioning.
When you’ve been hit with trauma, sometimes all you need is some brain stupid, so if you need to work out, go for a walk, or disengage from what’s happening around the world, please do so.
We are not used to being triggered 100% of the time, and when that starts to happen we become totally numb, as a way of survival. Yes it’s important that we have to celebrate our moments, and yes we have to make space to center other people’s pain, but sometimes we need to center our own damned pain too.
You’re allowed to be okay, and you’re allowed not to be okay.
So many of us are dealing with our own struggles, and because the world isn’t focusing on them too it can feel like we have to carry our burdens alone, but that’s not the case. There are hundreds of thousands of people helping the people of Ukraine, Yemen, Palestine, you are doing the best you can and if those issues are beyond what you’re capable of carrying, that’s okay.
I’ve created a list of some things you can do that might help you disengage from the world, and help you reconnect with yourself and your family again.
- Take a walk with your family and friends and really connect and laugh with them about what you’re going through and what they too are experiencing.
- Take a shower with the music down low and the lights turn off. Enjoy the sounds of the music as your brain disengages from the world outside the bathroom. Give yourself ten or twenty minutes to luxuriate in the shower and ignore what’s happenign outside the door because you know, that this time is for you.
- Yoga is something that I’ve been doing a lot of lately, it’s been helping to stretch my muscles and get up and walk around for awhile, to feel like my limbs are not made of stone.
- Listen to music and smoke a joint. I tend to cry when I do this but I consider it a healing and rebellious act. Let the tears out, let the laughter out, let the world fade away.
These are all cliches, but that’s because they genuinely work. I also find screaming at the top of my lungs helpful sometimes, because it helps to burn off some of the negative energy and release it into the world so I don’t have to deal with it alone, but I’m usually playing music when I do this.
Any other suggestions? Leave them in the comments, I’d love to hear how you’re doing with all this stuff going on in the world.
Sending all my love,
Devon J Hall
Loud Mouth Brown Girl 