Imagine…Take 2…

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Just Imagine…History Repeats Itself….

Back on 12/31/2017 I published a blog post titled ‘Imagine’ that seems unfortunately to sum up my current state of being:

“I feel rather demoralized when I turn on the news and watch the systematic decline of the nation’s progress towards equality, inclusion and respect for human decency unfolding in front of my eyes.

It’s been an ugly time that I’ve been at odds with and fought fiercely against in my mind. And, just when I thought that perhaps, just perhaps some progress was being made towards a healthier future for us all, the rug was yanked out from underneath me. I didn’t see it coming. I’ve lost my balance. I’ve felt genuinely lost too.

I keep wondering how we’ve come to be in this place at this point in time having not learned from past historical mistakes that we appear to be repeating.

Maybe it’s a fear of change, of lost position, power and privilege for some and a fear of scarcity this change could bring that fuels a drive to hold on to a past way of life and thinking that is old, self-serving and out dated.

This is a sad reality to me. Beneath my outrage a deep sadness flows. I’d thought better of us as a nation.

It is our need for love and the connections we make with others that allows us to best cope with the vulnerability our very human experience brings for each one of us. We really don’t do so well when we try to go it alone in life whether as an individual or as a nation. People can end up bullying others to pump up their very fragile shame filled ego. We see this being played out on our national stage.”

Yet, there were glimmers of hope….

As that year 2017 wound down the “Me Too” movement began to gain momentum and true leaders in our country were speaking out for climate change action promising to honor the Paris Accord regardless of what our elected officials wanted. It felt like there was some hope for forward movement rather than backward decline.

Can you imagine that here we are once again?

I can’t. And here I am once again sitting stunned, absolutely stunned, too shocked and dumbfounded to even get all worked up in outrage. Yet, that is. I suspect outrage is coming my way before too long.

I just never imagined I’d be here again grieving a huge loss sitting in the shock part of the grief process. It’s the loss of that hope we as a nation were going to learn and do better. A hope instilled in me from my childhood, as I wrote in 2017:

“I grew up with the lyrics of Beatle, John Lennon’s song “Imagine” in my mind and obviously in my heart too. It must have influenced me more that I realize.

“…imagine all the people living for today, imagine there’s no countries, it isn’t hard to do, nothing to kill or die for, and no religion too, imagine all the people living life in peace…no need for greed or hunger, a brotherhood of man, imagine all the people sharing all the world…you may say that I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one…”

Am I the only one?

I’d like to think the Mr. Lennon and I are not the only ones. I’d like to think that us dreamers who imagine living in a peaceful world will rally together. And we build a strong collective voice to challenge and find a path to unify this fragmented, deeply divided and disenchanted nation of ours. Future generations need us to. I fear for them if we don’t.

What to do now?

It’s very important to pull out all those good coping tools that we have and put them in high gear use. I’m writing this for my benefit too not just yours! Practice what I preach time.

Tools like: get good sleep, eat healthy foods, move your body—go for a walk and stretch your body, limit news consumption, write in a journal, set aside time to meditate, be mindfully present taking one day at a time, connect with friends and family. Just to name a few.

Remember that this is a very stressful time so be kind with yourself. You are not the only one struggling with this nation’s current state.

I stumbled on a wonderful website that offers words of wisdom and specific coping strategies for women who are really struggling with trauma like reactions to our current political climate.
https://wisdom.aspaceforwisewomen.com/the-power-of-wise-peaceful-warriors/
I do encourage you to take the time to explore the wisdom Sarah Coffman offers.

If you should find yourself struggling with much too much worry or very dark depressed moods or intense trauma reactions do reach out and begin therapy to help yourself.

Perhaps there will be hope this time too.

We gotta have hope. As Mr. Lennon said …”hope someday you’ll join us, and the world will live as one!”

I love the concept of a ‘wise peaceful warrior”, that Sara Coffman suggests. And I agree with her that we can’t be a ‘wise peaceful warrior’ if we do not have peace within ourselves. It’s imperative for each of us to know peace inside. Without it we won’t successfully unite our world, our nation, our communities.

If, just if, we do join together as wise peaceful warriors and even more of us this time unite to pursue peace…just imagine what a wonderful world it would be!

Do contact me to get started with depression therapy, anxiety therapy or PTDS/trauma treatment today!

JD’s Midlife Tools For Living Practices, Holland, MI Offering Heartfelt care, Compassion and Coping Tools!