O is for Outrage

Ok—organize is the obvious choice for this O day and I was all set to write a post about how we need to organize and protest and organize our lives to get rid of the stress of clutter and organize for change and while all those things are true, the word that kept popping into my head was OUTRAGE.

I am outraged that innocent people are being snatched off the streets by my government, in my name, since I’m a citizen. I am outraged at the lawlessness of the current administration, as they flout court rulings. I’m outraged at the cowardice of our legislators—both republican and democrat—who refuse to stand up to this bully and protect our democracy. I’m outraged at people I know and once considered fairly sensible who voted for this and now mindlessly cheer atrocities.

Even though this outrage is justified, that somehow makes it worse. Outrage is fear and frustration, helplessness, and did I mention fear? Ultimately, you have to accept outrage and make room for it. We all have good cause to feel outraged. It’s there for a reason—it’s a warning that all is not well—that action is required. Expressing outrage, however you can without getting arrested, is healthy.

Somehow, you need to vent that outrage in a useful way for your own well-being. If you can attend rallies, protests, and marches, do that. If you can call, write letters, and email your representatives, do that. Do anything you can to voice your outrage to people who should be doing their jobs. Don’t bottle it up because that’s the kind of thing that makes you sick.

But there will be outrage left over after you do all of those things. Outrage that will gnaw at your insides and piss you off—partly because you feel helpless even if you are doing all you humanly can and yet nothing seems to be working.

I don’t know about you, but I clean house and do lawn work at lightning speed when I’m pissed. Yesterday, I mowed leaves and tackled a patch of annoying plants with a fervor I haven’t felt in years. Was I visualizing certain politicians as I hacked at stubborn roots? Did I imagine the leaf blower was blowing flames and setting a certain toupee on fire? Maybe.

Ok. Yes.

Did I feel better later? A bit. And I had a nice clean spot in the yard to look at, which also helped. No, it didn’t wholly vent the outrage. That won’t happen until these criminals are purged from our government.

But I slept the sleep of exhaustion, which kept me from tossing and turning with my outrage until the wee hours. And today, while I am still outraged, I do feel a little calmer, a little more rested, and a little more focused.

So my message is to find a way to honor your outrage, but also a way to vent it.  Don’t let it churn you up 24/7. Because it will.

How about you? How do you deal with the frustration and outrage? Is protesting and contacting representatives enough? Do you do other things that help alleviate the existential dread of this moment? (The M post—which I didn’t do on time but will get to eventually–is about meditation, which helps me stay somewhat grounded.) How are you surviving?