Do Nothing

I was reminded that trauma can be busy. It can be going from one thing to the next, in hopes that you do not stop. You don't want to stop because to stop would mean to be alone with yourself--alone with your thoughts. Many of us would rather be distracted by activity than to have to sit with our trauma. We're fine to acknowledge our trauma, but no one wants to sit with it.

We want to heal. We want health and wellness. Many times this means we need to go back and confront our memories (be they in-person or virtual). So we return to "that" house, or building or city. We decide we will be brave and strong, and even when we are both, it still affects us. With every decision, we are intentional and focus on living in the present while we acknowledge the past. We are both weak and strong, fragile and fortified, wanting and overflowing with abundance. We are human. We simply are.

Keep on keepin' on dear brother, and dear sister. Let us be gracious with ourselves and others. Let us exhibit the essence of the Kwanzaa principle Imani (Faith), and "believe with all our hearts in... the righteousness and victory of our struggle."  Take a moment. Stand still. Listen to your breath. Do nothing. And when you have allowed the healing to take place, back to busy you go, until the time returns when you need or want to stop and do nothing.

 * Special Thanks to Social Justice Film Festival & Institute for hosting "Black Voices Black Lives: Art as Activism" on 8/28/2020. It was powerful and lovely. The words of Shakiah Danielson were powerful. When asked about what she is doing now, she announced that she was doing nothing. Powerful and beautiful!

** The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van der Kolk MD