Inside the pain

     Those of us with a neurodivergent tag may be familiar with being told to sit with uncomfortable emotions. It is difficult work, and essential for healing (whatever that means to people who are not therapists of one type or another).

    But it isn't something you should be expected to do daily. Nor on first waking. That would be considered as living in trauma.

    But we are forced to confront some awful realities alive and virulent in the world today. The atrocities being committed in Palestine, Sudan, Ukraine, and other regions. The floods in Texas. The living hell of being a person of colour, a disenfranchised woman, someone who needs an abortion, or trans or LGBTQIA+ in countries run by dictators, (and yes, I do mean the United States). 

    The climate emergency and those who speak out being imprisoned with inordinately long sentences. 

    The mental health crisis among our young people.

    It is so ever present as to be unbearable.

    And yet we have to live inside this pain of knowing. For anyone empathetic or humane, the daily toll of this weight can be heavy. It feels that the least we can do is bear it, and maybe this will prompt us to action as an ally, to join in with the protests, to use our voice however we can.

    Taking a step back, I realise that we also need to lift this burden from our shoulders sometimes. Once we have taken action, no matter how small, we need to put the pain aside, lest it consume us. Akin to putting on our oxygen mask first.

    So, take a moment. 

    Initially, sit with the pain, and the despair. The sadness of our oft-times inhumanity. Think of the pain of those Palestinian parents. Identify that fear inside yourself. The daunting world out there, that seems so huge and scary, where our little attempts to recycle and be good to our neighbours feel not enough.

    Sit inside that pain, roaring loud enough to drown out everything good.

    And then let it abate. 

    Let it recede like the floodwaters, like the retreating armies. 

    Let the daylight in. Water a plant on a windowsill. Take a coffee outside to a quiet spot only you know.

    Curl up on a sofa, or under a duvet. Breathe in your tiny moment of calm and comfort. 

    And then on days when we feel sufficiently strong, and dynamic, and our ability to fight returns, we will be able to create solidarity, across streets, counties, regions, countries, the globe, and continue fighting for what's right.

    Politicians may not be the solution. But communities are. 

    We are a big global community if we can but realise it, and now that we are all able to talk across distance, across difference, we can unite and come into our power. The power to say No to violence, hatred, indifference, dislike of the other, and instead extend a hand across to other communities. 

    If we all rise up, united, they cannot imprison us all.

#globalsolidarity #freepalestine #stopthewarinUkraine #supportLGBTQIA+ #globalcommunity #climatesolutions #protestisahumanright