Day 14: Woah, Almost Did it Again

After seeing a couple clips from the Secretary of … War (the title was Secretary of Defense prior to the 47th president’s rebranding of the role recently) talk this morning I almost fired off another blazing hot post.

I’m talking cuss words, vitriol and part of “Wake Up”, one of my favorite songs from Rage Against the Machine.

Literally about to push post I then closed out of the app.

Still reeling and wanting to do something, anything, I texted a service disabled vet who I regularly take to doctor’s appointment to burn off her nerve endings (a permanent injury from serving one of multiple tours in the Middle East). I sent her a simple message letting her know I was thinking of her. On our trips to her appointments we’ve had conversations about this administration and have similar stances on where we think our nation is heading so reaching out didn’t seem out of the ordinary.

I wanted her to know that she, and her brothers/sisters who have served, are not alone and are not the only ones outraged by the disgusting comments made.

I didn’t send the text so I could post about it on social. And it felt weird to even share it, like it was being performative. But I did end up sharing to the folks who view my personal page. I posted it in hopes that they too would reach out to at least one vet.

My post shared, in a diplomatic way, that the mission and intention of this administration is to distract. To fill everyday citizens with fear, rage, and overwhelm which will ultimately lead to apathy. They are intentionally inciting violent rhetoric to encourage an upheaval of people with mental health problems. Those that are blindly following an elected official who is a felon nepo baby with multiple bankruptcies, those who struggle from situational experiences that lead to PTSD, or people with hereditary/genetic conditions.

Everyday citizens systems too fried to do anything other than function. People with mental health conditions constantly being encouraged to have an us vs them mentality and to either silence, or “protect” “their” values. It’s a recipe for disaster and it weighs heavily on my heart, as I’m sure it does many.

After publishing the peaceful post I still felt down, how can you not with everything that’s going on (and about to go on). However I didn’t feel as frenzied as I would have had I posted the enraged post.

Rage feels good in the moment. It’s a release. An announcement that you are NOT ok with what is happening. But it burns hot and dies out.

An alternative to anger is to make one positive action. The hopefully that will then encourage others to also make one action.

We need to be reminded that this dystopian moment we are living in, it too shall pass. As everyday citizens we can contribute to society in a positive way by not allowing ourselves to be manipulated. Do good when and where you can. Don’t be a door mat but also don’t let fear ruin your life.

I’ll leave you with my favorite verse from a Catholic hymn: “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.”