Trouble at the People's House
Jan 09, 2021
I’m fascinated by my results on personality tests. I always test high in execution skills and strengths: achievement, competition, activator, driven, dominance. And according to those same tests, I basically have the EQ of a serial killer: lacking empathy, inability to show emotion.
Yet, when I am faced with a day like this past Wednesday -- when armed protesters stormed the US Capitol, rioting, looting and desecrating one of the beacons of American democracy -- I am simply overcome by emotion. It perspires out of me and rolls around in the pit of my stomach.
I experience all the feels on repeat: sadness, heartbreak, despair, anger.
I become paralyzed and fearful and apoplectic.
I am at one moment sick to my stomach, and at another craving comfort food to soothe my soul.
I cannot concentrate on anything, and have an insatiable desire for answers and the need to comfort others.
Sleep eludes me.
I cannot stop thinking about the Members of Congress and their staffers at work at the US Capitol when yelling and glass breaking and shots rang out just outside chamber doors. The fear and terror they must have felt. The confusion and uncertainty. They were simply doing their jobs while under siege. And then later that night, undeterred despite the insurrection, they calmly and courageously finished the work of certifying the electoral votes that they had begun hours earlier.
I cannot stop thinking about so many friends that live and work in DC. Who spent much of the day locked inside their homes or offices because it was too unsafe to go outside. Whose children play in parks near the US Capitol...but not on Wednesday. Who, like so many of us, watched in disbelief as the US Capitol, the preeminent beacon of American Democracy, was breached and overtaken. Except that these events were playing out in their own backyard and right outside their front doors.
I also spent some time doing research because the news reports were filled with a bunch of soundbites full of big terms that I "kinda" knew the definitions of. If you're anything like me, you sometimes wish you'd paid more attention in your US History class. This was one of those weeks.
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In case you, too, could use a little refresher, here's what I found:
SEDITION: Conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state, government or established order. It oftentimes includes subversion of a constitution, and incitement of discontent toward, or rebellion against, established authority.
TREASON: The offense of attempting to overthrow the government of one’s country or assisting of its enemies in war. The crime of law attacking and state authority by one who owes allegiance.
INSURRECTION: A violent uprising against an authority or established government. An organized opposition to authority; a mutiny; a rebellion.
COUP: A sudden, violent and illegal seizure of power from a government. Generally, a paramilitary faction that deposes the existing government.
25th AMENDMENT: if the President becomes unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President becomes the President. It can happen for short periods of time, like during a sickness or medical procedure. There is also a process by which the Vice President and members of the Cabinet can transfer authority from a sitting President to the Vice President.
What a week! It still amazes me that any of these terms have been used to describe events in the US this week. We hear about issues with elections in other countries, and we take free and fair elections for granted in our own country.
And all of this on top of a continued surge of the global pandemic. On Thursday, more than 4,000 Americans succumbed to COVID-19. 4,000 mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, friends. 4,000! That's so much loss, and it's amazing to me that we've become numb to the impact of this deadly virus.
Not that there has been any question, but this week's events underscore that we are a country divided. That we are a country in need of healing and leadership. That we are at a watershed moment that will test us. That 2021 may be just as trying as 2020.
Yet, I remain hopeful and optimistic.
I know we must get back to work and life, but I also know it's important to take time to feel the feels and process those feelings and emotions. As for me, I spent much of the end of this week processing this week's events.
You might need some time to process what you saw and read about, too.
Go easy on yourself. Sit with your emotions. Write about them. Talk with someone. Hug those in your COVID bubble. If you are able to, think about taking a mental health day. Limit your consumption of the news and social media. Go outside, and walk. Give yourself some space and time and grace to process what you’re thinking and feeling.
It's been a lot. We'll get through it. Go easy on yourself.
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