It’s 9/11. The anniversary of one of the worst events our world has ever seen. Last 9/11, I used this day to share my experiences of my first month of my job right out of college, at the @nba league office, watching the tragedy unfold out of our windows staring down 5th Avenue.
I discussed how trauma from that event, is something that still lives inside most/all of us, almost 20 years later…that if you see a picture of the Towers or watch any news clip, & you get this “uncomfortable feeling” anywhere in your body, the trauma likely is still within you.
My hope was, that this would explain how stress & trauma from life events we witness (that we don’t even need to be the central figures of) impact all of us – the person who was not only IN NYC seeing it live, or a first responder on the scene, but the factory worker in Michigan, to the store owner in Mississippi watching on TV. That event, again, was almost 20 years ago and still it’s impacts loom.
Now Corona hit, & again, much like 9/11, the world stopped. And this post is not at ALL meant to compare the severity of the tragedies. Both are/were awful. But one of the biggest differences between 9/11 & Corona is a singular event tragedy, vs an on-going tragedy – BOTH of which have & will continue, to change our lives forever.
My hope is, by talking about these two tragedies together, it further clarifies that SITUATIONAL life events impact us ALL!
Situational things usually happen to us on our own unique timelines: a sickness of a loved one, a death of a loved one, a divorce, a breakup, a fight, a job loss. Bc they are on our OWN timelines, we feel alone & like “we are the only ones.” That makes MH feel like a very individualistic thing.
On the contrary, 9/11 & Corona were/are situational factors that impacted Billions of us, at the SAME time. It is the essence of #SameHere – we ALL face challenging life events, #5in5…there is no shame in talking about it.
So, on the anniversary of 9/11, let us #NeverForget & let us realize we are all part of one tribe, all going through life, all facing highs & lows & sadly even tragedies, but all in this together.
