It’s ten days post election 2024 and you’re still feeling devastated, shocked, scared, and repulsed by the reality of another Trump presidency. We’re still too traumatized to think about JD Vance.
You wonder, “How will I survive this disgusting reality thrust upon our Nation by the racist, misogynistic capitalist patriarchy?”
I am so glad you asked because I have answers.
As an adult orphan and widowed mom to a 12-year-old on the autism spectrum I’ve had a front row seat to trauma, drama and victimhood for six years.
Here’s what I know for sure:
You are strong — not because you want to be, but because you don’t have any other choice. Perhaps that’s not entirely true — some people will give up and stay stuck in the overwhelm, but I don’t think that’s the majority of us.
Bad stuff happens every day. Wars are fought, people are tortured, maimed and killed. Global warming, disease, poverty, sexual violence — It’s a real shit show out there.
It’s been a little over six years since my husband was diagnosed with incurable cancer and given 3-5 years to live. It’s been three years since he died. I’ve been surviving in my own personal hellscape for awhile, not because I wanted to, but because I had to.
That’s the thing about us humans, we keep going, we keep trying to make things better for our kids, our friend’s kids, our dog’s puppies, the next generation, whoever is left standing.
We’ve done all the right things, we’ve prayed, lived (mostly) within the law, knocked on wood (when appropriate), crossed our fingers and stood on one leg, and the bad shit STILL happened. That’s when it starts to dawn on us that we can’t control things outside of ourselves.
Yes, we voted, but we couldn’t control how other people voted.
My point is, that when faced with obstacles and hurdles, we figure out a work around. You want to move to Berlin but you won’t put your dog in cargo?1 Maybe you get your pet certified as a service animal online and they sit quietly with you under your seat as you fly over the Atlantic? (I may or may not know something about this).
By law the airlines and TSA are not allowed to inquire about your specific disability.
Aren’t we all mentally ill after Covid isolation? I have clinical depression, but I don’t gatekeep who has a ‘real’ mental illness and who doesn’t. The criteria for diagnoses were all made up by a bunch of white men who used to think ‘hysteria’ was a real thing. WTF?
What I am proposing is not toxic positivity. It’s not positivity at all. It’s the reality of staying frozen or fleeing in fear or knowing that we’ll fucking figure it out if/when the worst happens.
Or maybe we won’t figure it out because shit happens and the only thing we get to choose is how we respond, and those we decide to help.
Share this post