Reopening, Anxiety & Storm Season

 

                                                 A calm day at the beach. 

It is summertime , and { as the song says} the livin' is easy. 

Stop. Wait. We are slowly emerging from a pandemic and  storm season is in full swing. 

Many well-meaning people take to social media to post every " storm possibility track" once a system enters the Gulf. Now I know that " Sally" caught many of us off-guard here in Pensacola. Brian and I are prepared for any storm system  to enter the Gulf. We prepare, and weyy wait for the official word from the weather scientists. 

This is how I do my best to calm storm fear. 

Last summer/early aurum was hard--- especially when " Sally" walloped us on the far northwest coast of Florida and southern Alabama. After spending an entire summer with just our "  quarinteam"-- Nature added insult upon injury with a named storm that dumped record amounts of rain in my area. Additionally, due to a company's neglect-- barges got loose during the storm and rendered the Three Mile Bridge useless until very recently. 

Trauma upon trauma upon trauma & I am unsure how to live a " normal" life post-pandemic. I try to live a joy-full life, but one corner of my brain is always waiting for more  " shit to hit the fan". 

For those of us with anxiety, we do not need reminders of how bad life was back in 2020. For we anxious Pensacolians, the memory of the hours of rain that " Sally" dumped on us in September is still fresh in our minds. 

Seeing every storm update is not helpful. 

I've been working hard to have an attitude of hope and gratitude as we collectively pull ourselves from this pandemic. My wounds , however, are fresh-- I carry wounds from living through the pandemic, the named storm, and the scariest political season of my 40 plus years on Earth. 

We are all responding to trauma.  For those of us with documented mental health issues-- recovering from the collective trauma is harder. 

I'm counting my blessings--- but staying away from anything that triggers my own unhealthy trauma response. I've " snoozed" some Facebook contacts , so I am not exposed to any storm updates. Brian and I already have our storm supplies bought and stored. 

Be both safe & sane.  This is hard shit that we are experiencing as a society. Be mindful of others. Tend to your own well-being. 

Namaste...

Sarah McCarren

17 June 2021