Overwhelm, Stressors, and Reactions, Oh My!
When the collective is being intentionally traumatized, what's a caring professional supposed to do?
Earlier in my career, I worked at the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Today, I’m deeply concerned for my former colleagues’ job security.
At the moment, the U.S. Senate is considering Russell Vought, the author of Project 2025, to lead OMB and administer the federal budget.
When questioned about Project 2025, and his proposal to terminate upwards of 1 million federal employees without cause, he defended his position, saying:
“We want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected. When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not want to go to work because they are increasingly viewed as the villains. We want their funding to be shut down so that the EPA can't do all of the rules against our energy industry because they have no bandwidth financially to do so. We want to put them in trauma.” - Russell Vought, Project 2025 Co-Author
This is a cruel and lawless proposal. It will spark many lawsuits, sow division, and create the kind of chaos that only intensifies the collective trauma we are all enduring.
What Can We Do?
As we continue to bear witness to the cruel and unusual abuses of power in D.C., many helping professionals feel the urge to do something, yet it all feels overwhelming.
It’s natural to want to react when you are grabbed by doom-scrolling and the news. Yet, an immediate reaction will likely lead to energy loss without much impact.
If the feeling of overwhelm and unending responsibilities to care for your communities resonates, I offer this week’s centering practice to help you ground.
The practice focuses on a few things:
Feeling Your Truth. It invites you to drop into your body and really experience your felt sensations under these enormous & traumatizing pressures.
Assessing Your Energy. It asks you to feel into the question, “what is my body letting me know about my energy level?”
Offering New Options. When you pause and center, you prevent an immediate reaction by asking your body, “Is rest or a response required at this moment?”
When we center under these social pressures, we have the opportunity to tend to our frayed nervous system and build the kind of confidence to say yes to rest or action.
[Image Description: A navy background with gold text that reads, “Join the Belonging Practice, Thursdays at 8 am PT with a YouTube video player featuring an image of Rhodes Perry, wearing clear glasses, a gray hat, a green sweater in his office, leading a centering practice and an invite to subscribe to his newsletter.]
Recognizing the Choir Moment
At last week’s Belonging Circle, many attendees struggled with this kind of overwhelm, and the feeling that they must do all the things…now!
I encouraged those navigating these struggles to lean into their curiosity as we practiced centering in action together.
The question for the group was to feel into your body: Is this a time for action or is this a time for reflection? Does your body want to do, or does it want to be?
If it’s the latter, resist the urge to feel guilty, and by all means REST. We are in a choir moment, and this Michael Moore quote sums up what that means:
"This morning I have been pondering a nearly forgotten lesson I learned in high school music. Sometimes, in a band or choir, music requires players or singers to hold a note longer than they actually can hold a note. In those cases, we were taught to mindfully stagger when we took a breath so the sound appeared uninterrupted. Everyone got to breathe, and the music stayed strong and vibrant.
Yesterday, I read an article that suggested the administration's litany of bad executive orders (more expected on LGBTQ+ next week) is a way of giving us "protest fatigue" - we will literally lose our will to continue the fight in the face of the onslaught of negative action. Let's remember MUSIC.
Take a breath. The rest of the chorus will sing. The rest of the band will play. Rejoin so others can breathe. Together, we can sustain a very long, beautiful song for a very, very long time. You don’t have to do it all, but you must add your voice to the song. With special love to all the musicians and music teachers in my life." - Michael Moore, 02/17/2017
Welcome to the choir, friend. If you’re taking a breath and being, thank you for tending to your health and emotional well-being. We are here when you are ready to return.
And for those committed to taking action from a centering place and ready to do, please consider this guidance shaped by the Belonging Membership Community:
Respond Instead of React. Ask yourself, am I taking action from a reactionary place, or am I thoughtfully responding (even if I’m angry) from a grounded place?
Know Your Zone of Genius. When thoughtfully responding, ask yourself: “What’s my zone of genius where my action will have the greatest impact and influence?”
Commit to One Action. From your zone of genius, I imagine you could take many actions. For the sake of the choir, pace yourself taking one action at a time.
[Image Description: A navy background with gold text that reads, "Practice Belonging," with an image of a person meditating with a red heart and a jumble of chaos above the person's left shoulder and an image of planet Earth on the right.]
We Are In It Together
Remember, we are all in one giant boat together. Even though we may find ourselves in different cabins and on different floors, we are all experiencing collective trauma.
One of my zones of genius is offering weekly centering practices to support visionary leaders like you to center and learn from your body if this is a time to do or be.
If you’re interested in receiving this type of support in a community practicing collective care, please enjoy these complimentary sessions on Thursdays at 8 am PT.
And if you’re interested in supporting my work, please consider subscribing to my Substack, or joining the Belonging Membership Community today.
Thanks for growing our #BelongingMovement!