Finding Life and Meaning After A Global Pandemic and Economic Downturn in America
Part 1
An economic recession is hard enough, we as Americans can still remember what 2008 felt like and how long that took many of us to get back on our feet, with sadly some not being able to fully make it there. Going back a little further, we can remember the sheer horror as we watched our own airplanes, full of people we love, crash into the world trade center towers that contained even more people that we love. We lost innocent people’s lives, on our own land, during what was supposed to be a normal workday. The repercussions of 911 are still felt today, and first responder’s lives forever changed or ended too young. Going back even further, we will continue to see the pain and trauma we’ve inflicted upon each other because of power, control and greed. It is important to remind everyone that the 75th anniversary of Jewish people being liberated from the genocide we called “concentration camps” took place on January 23, 2020. Let’s also not forget that World War II caused this planet to lose over 75 million people. War scars this earth and it scars us all in ways many of us will never fully be able to imagine or understand.
War is led by power and control but is stimulated by greed. If we look back in history, the state of a society prior to an epidemic is one that is not prepared to take care of people and their land. We are now in a pandemic, which means the state of this planet is at a place where we cannot keep going the way we have been. It’s now time to bring history, research and science back in front of everyone, so that we can learn how to make better choices in our own lives.
With 2020 feeling like it is essentially going to be canceled I ask, “What better time to start to think about our own life, in order to learn a little bit about why our individuality is so important, then now?”
We are nearing the end of March 2020, and within just two weeks of self-containment recommendations, we are now not only facing a global recession, we are also going through a pandemic that is putting the fragility of life and the need for a balanced work and home life – front and center – for us, not only as Americans, but for all of us as human beings. Our death tolls are rising, and we are seeing this virus impact both the young and healthy and old and frail. Many people have reached out to me to see how I am doing during this time because I am a small business in America that has had my income shut down until further notice. My short answer is, “Thank you for your concern, it truly means a lot to me. I am hopeful that this pandemic and the recession will allow us all to change, adapt, and readjust our American culture and world views.”
You may be wondering what I mean by, “readjust our American culture and world views.” On March 19, 2020 I filmed a live “state-of-address” speech via my YouTube channel. I will admit, the video is not perfect – one, I had never filmed using the YouTube Live feature and have now learned its video and sound quality is not good. Also, this was a brand new speech, but I felt the need to speak urgently, so I was not able to fine-tune my craft, which revealed my slight speech impediment that has never prevented me from being a public speaker- it’s part of my quirk and charm. Also, for the first two minutes of what I wanted to be a serious and heart-felt speech, viewers will notice one of my wool socks in the far-left corner. That sock had been dropped by my cat Newt, prior to me putting him upstairs to keep these types of distractions out of the shot. So, yeah, it’s not perfect, but after reading the rest of this article that I’ve written, feel free to check it out below (just turn on the closed captioning, which I spent over 8 hours crafting).
Going back though to why I am hopeful that this pandemic and the recession will allow us all to change, adapt, and readjust our American culture and world views. I will share that this pandemic has cemented what I have been learning about how a person can take care of one’s self during one’s lifetime in America (since this is where I also live). I’ve been unknowingly researching this through living my own life, and by also intertwining my academic degrees with 15 years of professional experience, serving this nation within the fields of inclusion, diversity and healthcare. As I’ve aged, I’ve been on the search to find ongoing pride in being an American, instead of embarrassment that is full of a lot of apologies to the world. I’ve also worked hard in growing my small business as a speaker and author in the fields of inclusion, diversity and healthcare. I’ve been on a quest to help other people find their own pride, not only in their country but in themselves.
I am an American that believes in the importance of living a life guided by respect for individuality, integrity, honesty, truthfulness, and kind playfulness. I am a small business that works in the fields of inclusion, diversity and healthcare because I know through my own life experiences that we as human beings need to be able to live a balanced life that is free from judgements and assumptions. We need to be able to grow our individuality in this world, in order to figure out and then express who we are as unique human beings who are allowed to live a life that is guided by true morals, principles and values. Meaning, being kind and thoughtful toward one another. We need to remember what it means to be human, so that we can learn from our mistakes and past actions, in order to improve ourselves, our lives and our relationships.
To begin doing this, it is my professional recommendation for this country to put focus, value and resources toward trauma-informed care and public health, in order to build healthy communities and relationships that we all desperately need and want.
I realize now, that my work has been operating under the confines of human sexuality and eating disorders, but what I really do is teach and show people how to heal from trauma. And right now, there are a lot of people experiencing a very disrupted life, where they do not feel like they are in control, or that their life is truly their own. The more people we lose to this virus, young and old, the even more real our individual life and its unknown but eventual expiration date becomes. I have been aware of my own life from a very young age, and I’ve been fighting ever since to figure out how to share with all of you how important we all are on this planet. I have been going through a rebrand with my new-found understandings of the impact of abuse and trauma, and I am now planning a lifetime’s worth of articles, books, videos, and personal stories to help all who find comfort in me and my work.
Consider this the beginning of a new era, and an introduction to the work I will be bringing to the table in this next decade. My books and professional articles will be popping up in 2021, but in the meantime, I’ll share a little bit via my blog.
Consider this part 1 of an undetermined length series.
