Terror Attack

I’m sad today.  The television is filled with images of fear and violence.  The world seems on the verge of collapse.  It would be easy to spiral into despair and anxiety, but I have the benefit of having watched years of TV where things seemed crazy.  I remember the riots, assassinations and Viet Nam war footage in the sixties, Watergate, Iran Contra, the Persian Gulf.  I remember   9/11 which happened during  my honeymoon in Ireland. I remember returning to my office in Greenwich Village and crying as I walked through the neighborhood each morning and evening as I saw the posters of the missing plastered all over the walls and fences.

It’s easy at times like this to collapse life into categories, good and bad,  black and white, and to mistake the people involved as victims or villains rather than human beings speaking very different languages.  The need for western governments to set limits on violence is a necessity, but the need for governments to dehumanize and degrade the humans involved is not. Most of us have learned as we grew up that might, power, puffing ourselves up and full of bravado, especially when we have felt helpless and frightened, is like a drug.  Like cocaine or crack, it made us feel good for a short time, but then we were in danger of  becoming bullies,   addicted to more of the same.  Feeling like a bully and feeling superior   takes our mind off the problem for a moment, but it isn’t creative or innovative or smart.  We have to think ‘out of the box’ here.

And psychologically, we also have to think ‘out of the box’ and find ways to create meaning and a feeling of safety in our lives, with or without external stresses like terrorism.    Einstein was right when he said. (click on this-I like the look of the quotation). We will have to manage our frightened selves and those of our loved ones,  and keep ourselves sane in the meantime.  And we will have to create new routines, narratives and ways of speaking with  one another that make sense; less of ‘OMG what’s happening, things are going out of control’ and more, ‘let’s see how I can be of service in this stressed out world right now-should I sign a petition, go to a rally, or give money to a candidate in government whom I respect?’  This might take more energy in the short run but it will definitely help your nervous system remain calm and regulated in the long run. Getting migraines and ulcers from the news is not a good idea.   Countries outside the US and even  Western Europe, until recently of course,  have been suffering from violence for a very long time as one my charts  in this blog post illustrates.   Terrorism has been  their life and has created terrible problems for them, physically and psychologically.    Now we in the western hemisphere have to figure out a way to protect ourselves from becoming internally as well as externally terrorized ourselves.  Otherwise we will suffer more than we need to.  Let’s make each moment count.