Melanie, this essay reminds me of the pendant my mother wore in the 70s that said, “War is not healthy for children & other living this”.
I am grief stricken by Gaza & Ukraine. I am grief stricken by Israel and the children there, knowing that children next door are being murdered, possibly by their own parents. How does one grow up to be a healthy, compassionate person with this much carnage and lies? I think about our own government, sacrificing children and families for insatiable greed. Our own government disappearing parents, leaving children without hope. Why? Why is there so much hate in the world? It passes, generation to generation because adults will not deal with intergenerational trauma, including their own. War is not just bombs and guns and physical death and destruction. It can be masked within a family that appears normal and healthy. The outside does not see the pink elephant that lives in the house, leaving scars and wounds that are not always visible, even to the victim.
And this cycle is on rinse, repeat, until it is stopped by a spiritual awakening that will no longer abide these atrocities.
Thank you for this generous comment. Yes! I say ancestors build the emotional rooms in which we live. When they are crowded with grief, shame, and rage, we have little room for joy and love, little room to grow. Until we reckon with the past, which is a grieving process. However, the room gets cleared, even if a little, and we can do that growing. So there is hope.
Yep, there is always hope! I am a glass is half full kind of person. I can see the flip side of things, the silver lining. I’m optimistic rather than pessimistic, although this is the worst I have felt in my life as far as our government is concerned.
I feel as you do. I just read the book about Biden by Jake Tapper. What a revelation about the behind-the-scenes dysfunction. We the people. That’s who must change things. As horrifying as the culture is right now, I believe people are beginning to have their eyes opened. Again…I hope.
Melanie, this essay reminds me of the pendant my mother wore in the 70s that said, “War is not healthy for children & other living this”.
I am grief stricken by Gaza & Ukraine. I am grief stricken by Israel and the children there, knowing that children next door are being murdered, possibly by their own parents. How does one grow up to be a healthy, compassionate person with this much carnage and lies? I think about our own government, sacrificing children and families for insatiable greed. Our own government disappearing parents, leaving children without hope. Why? Why is there so much hate in the world? It passes, generation to generation because adults will not deal with intergenerational trauma, including their own. War is not just bombs and guns and physical death and destruction. It can be masked within a family that appears normal and healthy. The outside does not see the pink elephant that lives in the house, leaving scars and wounds that are not always visible, even to the victim.
And this cycle is on rinse, repeat, until it is stopped by a spiritual awakening that will no longer abide these atrocities.
Thank you for this generous comment. Yes! I say ancestors build the emotional rooms in which we live. When they are crowded with grief, shame, and rage, we have little room for joy and love, little room to grow. Until we reckon with the past, which is a grieving process. However, the room gets cleared, even if a little, and we can do that growing. So there is hope.
Yep, there is always hope! I am a glass is half full kind of person. I can see the flip side of things, the silver lining. I’m optimistic rather than pessimistic, although this is the worst I have felt in my life as far as our government is concerned.
I feel as you do. I just read the book about Biden by Jake Tapper. What a revelation about the behind-the-scenes dysfunction. We the people. That’s who must change things. As horrifying as the culture is right now, I believe people are beginning to have their eyes opened. Again…I hope.