My response to trauma is usually to take action. Right now I'm looking for a path to resistance.
I spent a bit of time yesterday in a local nature preserve, grateful for some changes they'd made since I was there a while ago. A new path made it easier to get to the lake. My walking is limited but I was able to navigate this.
New trail cleared. It seemed significant at this moment. It was a healing experience.
And I resolved to continue eating well, to maintain health as a resistance measure
I've pruned my blog list to remove soapboxers, gloaters and anyone who showed me their true colors yesterday from what they think is a safe place. I'll let them find out that there will be no safe place in our new world.
I'm going to do the same with comments here. I've been open even to some that were bossy and hurtful, thinking well, it's a viewpoint. No more. Only civil disagreement will get house room. I don't mind a challenge but I'm closed to arm waving now and snark.
I've deleted some social media, pruning my presence in others. You feel how you feel, I just don't have the energy right now to read your grief while I'm trying to process my own.
I'm still thinking about how to resist. I already try to be entertaining here,as a respite, and I'll continue the Sock 'n Glove Ministry, all the more necessary. And my membership in helpful organizations, and food bank donations,all that.
I think my own mental health is itself a form of resistance, so I will keep calm and knit, spin, stitch,read and weave on. Being a small oasis of calm and resolve is my current goal.
Here's my current reading
I have to consider my financial future as a person heavily dependent on social security and Medicare, but not today.
And I need to consider how I use my energy and whether to blog less frequently than the daily pattern I've been in for many years.
Looks like my support of Ukraine will be a lifelong endeavor now.
There's a new No.1 Ladies Detective Agency book? I absolutely must get hold of it. Alexander McCall Smith is an island of goodness and calm and perfect for what I am craving now.
ReplyDeleteExactly. I had it requested for ages and it arrived yesterday. Great timing.
DeleteThis is interesting, wise and spot on and I couldn't agree with you more. We need time to grieve, however we might do it. And then we figure out the ways we can best resist or help with that. In Michigan, we have an election in another two years for Governor, House and Senate (national) and all the locals. You can bet I'll be working early on that one. I'm not posting about the election results on the blog (I'm too into my England posts) and after yesterday, nothing on the FB page. It's forward now. We think we know what is ahead for us (I hope we're wrong) but we have to be ready to deal with things as they come. Hang in there!
ReplyDeleteLevel headed, yes. This is a time to breathe, consider and plan.
DeleteA woodsy sort of walk does help. We did that yesterday. I spent a lot of time on Twitter yesterday trying to make sense of it. I follow the good guys, so it isn't what people think of Twitter although it can get pretty vile if you dig in a little. Anyway, I went there first thing this morning and decided that I have to stop. I have to go sometimes to check in on my sports guys, but I'll try yo make my visits brief for now.
ReplyDeleteYour plan sounds good to me! It's more important than ever before to cultivate some peace and joy in our lives while we resist oppression.
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