I woke up on Friday, May 18th and checked my phone.
“BREAKING NEWS: SCHOOL SHOOTING AT SANTA FE HIGH SCHOOL”
I went through a quick tornado of emotions in the following minute. Fear. Anger. Disgust. Sadness. Helplessness. It had been barely two months since the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida. And here we were again.
I felt this creeping sense of insanity slipping through my body and before I could even register exactly what I was feeling, my body was wracked by sobs. The tears streamed as the reasons for my emotional response began to solidify.
First and foremost, the pain was somewhat personal. Both of my sisters are teachers. And while the horror of school shootings is mainly, and perhaps rightfully, due to the tragic deaths of young students, I am all too aware of the number of adult deaths; the teachers and aides and administrators and staff who have lost their lives in these shootings. So, while I don’t yet have children and therefore cannot fully and viscerally react to the thought of losing a child, I have my sisters, two of my greatest loves. My sisters walk into schools just like Stoneman Douglas, and Sandy Hook Elementary, and Sante Fe High every day. This was and is personal.
Secondly, the helplessness had broken through the barrier of numbness and had now materialized into anger. Mass shootings had infiltrated our news cycle in a sickeningly smooth way. It had become an issue that everyone talked about, definitely, but the awful repetitive nature of “BREAKING NEWS” made it so the news wasn’t so “breaking” anymore. It seemed like no matter what we did, no matter how many rallies were held or petitions were signed, nothing was or is changing. This helplessness has built up slowly, simmering just under the surface. For me, Santa Fe brought that helplessness to a full boil. Yes, I was sad and I was scared, but more than anything, I was angry.
It seems, I’m not the only one. “Our psychologists are saying that their therapy sessions are consumed with people expressing anxieties and stress related to the current state of the nation,” Dr. Vaile Wright, a licensed psychologist and member of the American Psychological Association’s Stress, stated in a recent Vogue interview. People across the country are struggling to find a balance between healthy political engagement and a sound state of mind. The insanity of this political time is literally making us lose our minds, slowly and tortuously. So how can we keep our sanity without risking apathy and ignorance?
Go On A Media Diet
We can follow Wright’s suggestion of a “media diet”, dedicating specific blocks of time for news and social media. We can create a concrete social-action plan, where we decide what specific causes or organizations we want to spend our money or time on. But the main thing we can do as United States citizens is vote. With the midterm elections upon us, now is the time to use our vote to do what we can to fight these injustices. We can vote for who we want to represent us in DC. We can vote for candidates who take our concerns seriously, who are not ultimately swayed by money but by the demands of their constituents. Because the truth is, our current political climate is scary. It is exhausting. It is upsetting. It is sometimes horrifying. But burning ourselves out by constantly worrying about things we can’t directly change isn’t doing us any good.
With the midterm elections upon us, now is the time to use our vote to do what we can to fight these injustices.
Kids dying in places where they should feel safe is disturbing. The fact that we can make parallels to the number of deaths in American schools this year and active military service, including casualties in combat is sickening. We must do better. So, by no means am I suggesting that the answer to our ever-worsening negative emotions is acceptance. We should not accept what has been happening. But we must allow ourselves to take a break from the barrage of stories. We have to take some time for self-care, smile and live our lives without a constant cloud of fear and anger. The answer is never apathy or indifference, but rather a healthy amount of engagement and activism. Everyone is different and will handle their emotions in this politically-charged atmosphere differently. But no matter what, the key is balance. Try to balance the good with the bad. Do your best to find sanity in an era of outrage.
By: Cianna Allen