Everyday I wake up to something terrible happening in the world, and I desperately want to write about it, to express my feelings.
Take this past week for instance. There was a coup, a literal attack on the Capitol of the United States and so many are excusing the behavior and not willing to name it. COVID-19 cases are continuously on the rise, especially in San Luis Obispo County, but that does not stop the population from gathering in large groups, as people are dying from this deadly infection.
So that brings my point about how we cope with the tragic news surrounding the world while also centering our mental health and our commitments. It is impossible to only focus on the news of the world when we have responsibilities like school and work.
I used to be able to write my feelings away, and accurately express the pain I felt for the world with only my words. But lately, it has been very hard to understand my own feelings.
We are blessed enough with so many safe spaces designed to process our feelings, to unpack our thoughts about the world we live in. But how can we do that when we do not have a clue where to begin. Lately, I began to distract myself from the dangers of the world instead of being able to process. It is almost as if I have become numb to the world around me.
I know I am not alone in this; for so many people, especially people of color, we have always seen disasters around the world, and in the last four years, it has just gotten worse. And so we shut down, we turn off our emotions to get through the days. But closing off is not healthy, and that is something that is hard to understand.
Something I have learned is that it is okay to not be okay, to not be fine. Our emotions are what make us human. We are allowed to be upset with the state of our nation. We can cry for those who died due to a deadly virus. And we can learn to express our grief healthily.