Yesterday we visited a Mayan ruins site, Altun Ha in Belize. This marker was at the entrance. Made me proud, then ashamed, to be an American. That's my word. Ashamed.
@lovendures Thank you for checking in. I felt such relief reading your post. We are all in this together and it is important to keep checking on one another. I, like you and @tybin , am horrified about Ukraine and cannot believe this is where we find the U.S. -- siding with Putin. It is sickening. My family on both sides (grandparents on one and great-grandparents on the other) immigrated to the U.S. from Ukraine, so I feel this. Like you and @liln22 mentioned, I spiral, climb back up, spiral again, etc. The relentlessness of what is happening, combined with how it is affecting not just the U.S., but the world, makes it really hard to find some relief in my mind. I do focus on my daily routine, work (my work is connected to the federal government, so the chaos is front and center in this part of my life), my family. My husband and I try to get out and walk as often as we can -- fresh air and movement helps dissipate that anxious energy. I also do various forms of art, so I am finding that have a project, any project (a little crochet, some drawing, etc.) that I can pick up and put down easily helps. It gets me out of my head and into creating in the moment. We also have two cats and two teenagers. The cats help all of us :) and keeping the teens on their routines helps. Though I cycle back to being concerned for their futures as well. One day at a time, indeed. I try to lay off the news and that helps. I have to do more of that, but also struggle with wanting/needing to be informed. Like @liln22 said, I hope for all of us to find those little moments in each day that help us weather the rollercoaster of emotions.
Wow!
It would be great to have people traveling anywhere around the world to take photos of markers like this and sharing them. Thank you so much for sharing it with us.
It is helpful to know others are feeling similar emotions. I am working on reinventing how to have news and inner peace balance. I am the type of person who really wants to stay informed but realize there is just too much out there and I need to spend part of my day disengaged.
Planning what I can actually "plan" in life also helps. Planning new creative meals, activities, new projects, organizing my home ( it definitely needs it)...it is a way to have some control and stability in an out of control world.
CC21, I am so sorry you have the uncertainty of your career connected to the federal government. I imagine that to be incredibly stressful right now. It is an intentionally harmful act and those keep repeating every day.
Wow!
It would be great to have people traveling anywhere around the world to take photos of markers like this and sharing them. Thank you so much for sharing it with us.
Yeah and if anyone asks why it benefits the US to help Belize build up its tourist sites, tell them that having a prosperous tourist industry is one reason why you don't see huge numbers of Belizeans desperately trying to leave their country. (I visited Belize in the late 90's and was impressed. The contrast with Guatemala and neighboring Mexico was shocking. )
So much has happened since @lovendures posted this wellness checkin thread last Wednesday. So I am reposting her post to see how you are all doing right now.
"I am doing a community wellness check in.
A lot has happened within the past 5 weeks to our country and it's affecting us all. Some directly with career or business losses, some with family member and friend job losses. That doesn't even account for other normal life losses and just the feeling of being lost in life right now. The understandable fear of the unknown as well.
We are all dealing grief in one form or another and each day brings more heartache.
So I thought perhaps some of us might like to check-in with a word, sentence or more on how we're doing or how you have been impacted.
Do you have "people" which whom you can share your grief and observations ? Do you have any coping strategies that are working?
Nobody has to respond, but you are welcome to do so in this thread." -- Lovendures
@jeanne-mayell re: wellness check.
I'm pretty grounded and stable. I can maintain stability with the political situation even though it is horrible-- probably because I don't have to make any major decisions in order to do what I can to mitigate it in my own small way, and have faith that the Powers That Be will take care of the rest
What is harder is the personal stuff. Having a BF who is having panic attacks and mood instability to the point where I had to move out 3 weeks ago is much more difficult. How to manage it? Decisions are personal and difficult- and I'm a Libra. He's a fundamentally kind and loving person, but he's got a lot of recent and old trauma to process and sometimes he takes his frustrations out on me (verbally). I am not a punching bag. Nor am I a psychiatric nurse. This is not my skill or my job. I refuse to be yelled at. But I want to help.
I think the generally insane global vibes make everything harder to deal with at this time. (/end vent)
@ana Thank you for sharing that. For all of us, the stuff is all mixed in with how we are navigating the world, which is why we have to begin with taking care of our selves. Your statement that you are not a psychiatric nurse or a punching bag is a sign you are carrying on with courage, and doing so many things well at this time. When someone behaves as he has been behaving, it is best to protect yourself and from abuse, even when his abusive behavior is coming from his traumas, as abuse invariably does.
Taking care of yourself at this time might just be the best way to care for him. Sending healing to you both.
In a way, your response to his behavior is an appropriate response to what is happening in the country. It is time for us to take care of ourselves and each other.
Updated my Sunflowers for Ukraine artwork that I made when the war started.
New brighter background made on computer. This is how I cope.
I read this post this morning and it helps to buoy hope for some semblance of recovery via resistance. D.L. Mayfield, “Healing is My Special Interest” offers this:
Here’s my pep talk after studying authoritarianism.
1. They never truly expect a long-term resistance movement bc they people are a collection of trauma triggers who are easily controlled thru terror.
2. If they can’t terrorize you 25/7 in your mind, they already lost the war.
3. The single best way you can beat fascism is to not let them terrorize you constantly. Protect your mental health to ensure you aren’t in a constant terrorized state.
4. Keep connecting to who you are at your core. Your values, preferences, ethics, and beliefs. Build up capacity to resist.
5. Remember they are like abusive parents: they only see us as extensions of them. They have no clue how powerful joy and community and self-expression can be. We can use this to our advantage—we can be the strong-willed child they never saw coming.
Spend time connecting to your true self is not selfish in these times—it’s intricately connected to a resistance movement that is tied to honoring our bodies, our communities, and to the land. We have to build capacity to resist by being exactly who we are!