Thank you for writing this and also commenting about it on Twitter. So much has happened collectively since 2016 that has been traumatic -- four grueling years of Trump as president; the aftermath of the 2020 election; the pandemic; George Floyd; climate change; SCOTUS, etc., etc., etc. Not to mention the stuff of our individual lives.
But I'm glad you are raising the 2016 election. I even forgot about it amongst all the wreckage of the past eight years, despite having such a severe reaction to it myself. As of that day, I stopped checking Facebook immediately and altogether, when I had been a daily commenter prior primarily on political issues. That might sound trite, but I lost touch with a community of real people there, and it too made me smaller and a lot quieter. I also had to immediately stop attending a Democratic Party organization I had been a regular at, admittedly also in part due to the in-fighting and poor leadership there.
Caring about politics and the state of the US had been a primary organizing principle of my life up until then, and my identity was deeply intertwined with it. I was in such shock and despair at a Trump presidency that given who I was at that time, I had to curl in on myself and get really small and quiet. (I now understand this is a trauma response.) I think at least for me -- and probably for many -- that particular trauma has not been attended to. It's just gotten buried under so much more collective awfulness since. Again, I appreciate your pulling out this moment and focusing on it. I think it's part of attending to it and necessary for any healing.
Thank you for writing this and also commenting about it on Twitter. So much has happened collectively since 2016 that has been traumatic -- four grueling years of Trump as president; the aftermath of the 2020 election; the pandemic; George Floyd; climate change; SCOTUS, etc., etc., etc. Not to mention the stuff of our individual lives.
But I'm glad you are raising the 2016 election. I even forgot about it amongst all the wreckage of the past eight years, despite having such a severe reaction to it myself. As of that day, I stopped checking Facebook immediately and altogether, when I had been a daily commenter prior primarily on political issues. That might sound trite, but I lost touch with a community of real people there, and it too made me smaller and a lot quieter. I also had to immediately stop attending a Democratic Party organization I had been a regular at, admittedly also in part due to the in-fighting and poor leadership there.
Caring about politics and the state of the US had been a primary organizing principle of my life up until then, and my identity was deeply intertwined with it. I was in such shock and despair at a Trump presidency that given who I was at that time, I had to curl in on myself and get really small and quiet. (I now understand this is a trauma response.) I think at least for me -- and probably for many -- that particular trauma has not been attended to. It's just gotten buried under so much more collective awfulness since. Again, I appreciate your pulling out this moment and focusing on it. I think it's part of attending to it and necessary for any healing.