If you are like me, you are experiencing some serious feelings of anger and disgust toward a whole lot of folks this week. You’re also experiencing feelings of fear and anxiety about the future of this country and more immediately, the next two weeks. You’re PTFO about the illegal, impeachable, conduct of this unhinged, deranged, nut-bag “Agent Orange” hiding in the White House! One of his last tweets, “We will not be silenced!” Really dude?
I hate to get political again, but you know what? Right now, we all need to get political! We need to ensure that no other hateful, undiagnosed mental patient is ever allowed to become the leader of the free world! Actually, I take that back. Not trying to hear the insanity plea. Let’s say seriously flawed human being. (Although the jury is out on the human part!)
I truly have never known hate before. Like most folks, I have been through some s*#t. I have been betrayed, emotionally abused, cheated on, lied to and the like and I have still NEVER experienced hate. Oh, I experienced anger for sure. There might have some poison ivy rubbed in some underwear at some point, but until now, I have never HATED anyone. I know it’s unhealthy, so I’m really trying ya’ll!
Many around me have echoed the same sentiment. They too are experiencing hate for the first time. We all started with strong dislike, but this…..Most of them like myself, are generally positive and forgiving folks. (Sometimes to our detriment, but another post!) This whole hate thing is truly foreign to us. This level of anger is even new to me and I own a temper!
But how can you not be angry and experience these types of emotions after this week? Racism and violence continue to dominate the news. Hate is once again, prime time! And while anyone with a pulse SHOULD have been affected and disturbed by what they witnessed (and I’m not dismissing ANYONE else’s pain!) black folks are probably the most disturbed because we are the ones that at the end of the day are hated and feared. These folks had confederate flags! (Which actually is more of a white supremacy symbol.) They were following what they believed to be “one of them!” The captain of their team.
We watched a police officer get crushed! It’s just all so disturbing and my heart aches for his family. He died trying to defend democracy. (Some of his colleagues are a little suspect….) But, he lost his life in the line of duty attempting to protect democracy. This should have NEVER HAPPENED!
You have all these re-Trumpian senators that stood by and watched this insane, wannabe dictator wreak havoc for four years! These a-holes, blinded by their greed, ambition, and fear, stood by and did absolutely nothing for FOUR years! They didn’t give two shits until they themselves became the target of violence. What they experienced on Wednesday is what it feels like to be a person of color in this country! They got a dose of what it feels like to be a black man EVERY damn day! 24/7/365! I would love to ask those same folks, “So, how did it feel to be under attack and fear for your life?” Because that is how brothers feel during a routine traffic stop! It is horrible that those determined to do their jobs had to go through such a terrifying ordeal.
And don’t get me started on Cruz and that Hawley character. Sadly, both were totally complicit in this attack on our democracy and in my opinion should be punished as well. Even if it just means, they should resign and never be allowed to hold office again, but a more severe punishment would be better. The action and consequences should be relative. And ain’t nobody trying to hear any apologies. What are you sorry for? Being racists?
These clowns were actually sending out fundraising emails while the country was under attack! (By its own citizens!) A blind man can see they are just trying to benefit from Agent Orange’s popularity. (Which I will never understand!) They probably don’t even agree with him! They are just incapable of speaking the truth! (Then again, it might be hard to speak anything with your lips glued to an orange ass!) I need to vent. Sorry.
If you are like me, you couldn’t stop watching. I watched the last few days waiting for the VP to grow a set and do the right thing. Republicans and Democrats alike, suggesting we “just wait it out” in my humble opinion couldn’t be more wrong. “It’s just 10 days!” Yup. And a few days ago, “It was just two weeks!” He committed crimes and must be punished to the full extent of the law. We need to make sure that he is never able to run for ANYTHING, EVER. (Not that I believe that will be an option after the state of NY is done with him!) A little insurance would be nice.
I’m not a lawyer or a legal expert, so perhaps they have a better plan. If he can be prosecuted after leaving office, that’s works for me, but he cannot be allowed to get away with it! I can’t help but to fantasize about him being physically removed from the White House along with his psycho kids and his mail-order bride!
But back to Wednesday when the VP faced the real possibility of being hung! WTF. That is insane. It is 2021 and these clowns are trying to bring back lynching.
“I heard at least three different rioters at the Capitol say that they hoped to find Vice-President Mike Pence and execute him by hanging him from a Capitol Hill tree as a traitor,” Jim Bourg, news pictures editor in Reuters’ Washington bureau, recalled on Twitter.
These nuts never intended to have a peaceful protest. They came to the Capital to commit crimes and engage in violent behavior, and they did just that!
It is all so unbelievable! How can we not be angry about an insurrection that breached the home of US democracy? (The first since the Brits set it on fire in 1814!) I said, 1814!!!!! How can we not be angry about a president that started and fueled this fire?
And who was there to guard it? A thin blue line of Capital police that it turns out, turned down offers of support from the national guard. (An obvious and stark contrast to the mass deployment of over 5,000 troops in response to the BLM protests last summer!) I wonder what the difference was. If you are old enough, I think it was Arsenio Hall that used to say, “Things that make you go, hmmmm.” (If I’m wrong, someone tell me who that was.)
The capital police were grossly ill-prepared, and one cannot help but wonder why! Standing there in regular uniforms instead of riot gear! (As if we didn’t know what these lunatics were capable of!) They had already stormed state capitals. They tried to kidnap the damn governor of Michigan for God’s sake!
What were they greeted with? “Area closed” signs and barriers that anyone could step over. What’s worse is that it was determined that some of the protestors were active military and off duty police officers! (Protect and serve who?)
A DC police officer confirms in a Facebook post that these folks were flashing badges and military ID’s to gain access! Officers on duty posed for selfies with rioters! And you wonder why folks don’t trust the police? I am in no way suggesting police are bad people. I’m sure most are not, but there has to be a better way to weed out these bad apples. Psych evaluations? More intense background checks? Social media? Of course, we’ve been saying this far too often in the recent past! I’m by no means going in on the police, but real talk, there definitely needs to be a serious investigation into the Capital police force. “If these people can storm the Capitol building with no regard to punishment, you have to wonder how much they abuse their powers when they put on their uniforms,” the officer wrote. It is just ashamed. Most of these guys risked their lives protecting our representatives. Rumor has it one hero’s name is Eugene Goodman. A brother, who supposedly and intentionally led angry protestors in the wrong direction.
Meanwhile “Agent Orange” is tweeting out words of encouragement to his angry mob of white supremacists. Telling them to pressure congress peacefully and patriotically but used the word “fight” more than twenty times in the same speech.
It’s not like this is new! It’s not like he hasn’t called white supremacists, “fine folks” in the past. Why is anyone surprised? Once again, he refused to condemn them until someone got it through his thick orange skin that he was breaking laws and risked being carried up out of there. (Not that the VP was going to do the right thing!) Nope, instead, he called them “special” and said he loved them when anyone with half a brain, knows that he despises them. Okay, enough on 1/6 for today. Let me take a deep breath and attempt to shift gears now that I got that all out!
On a more positive note, I have to remind myself that we do have the power to change things. 45 didn’t drain the swamp. He filled it! It’s up to us to drain it. As evidenced by what happened in Georgia last week, we DO HAVE THE POWER TO CHANGE THINGS. WE CAN DRAIN THE SWAMP! We need to vote in every single election, not just the biggies! A lot of red turned blue in the 2020 elections and there is light at the end of the tunnel! We just have to focus on the light to get to the other side. There are definitely clouds in the sky. They might be blocking the sun, but the sun is still there!
But I digress. I want to talk about hateful feelings that I, and probably others have been experiencing this past week. If you are like me, you are angry as hell. So, allow me to briefly talk about hate and anger.
Hatred is a feeling that can cause an angry, or resentful emotional response, which can be used against certain people, or ideas. Hatred is often associated with feelings of anger, disgust and a disposition towards the source of hostility. Wikipedia
And while it is understandable to experience these feelings right now, (Hell, for the past four years! Okay, since forever) the effects of ongoing feelings of hate can have a devastating effect on your body and mind. I am not trying to let this man and this situation “crack my black!”
Hate can actually change the chemistry in your brain, cause an increase in cortisol and adrenalin, both of which have negative effects on your organs. Excess cortisol can contribute to weight gain, anxiety, and chronic illness.
I read an interesting article on the science of hate. (link below). The article outlined some of the root causes of hateful feelings. Hatred usually stems from fear, insecurity, and mistrust.
When people have issues, conflicts, and problems they are prone to direct the blame onto someone else. They join hate groups so they can blame their problems on another group of people. They share their beliefs and are supported by others who have similar issues and need to blame others. It also addresses their need to belong!
The article further suggests that the folks join hate groups due to fear of the unknown. They fear change. Their insecurities have gotten the best of them. In my opinion, what it boils down to is that these folks just fear black and brown folks. Some of this fear was taught, but that’s no excuse in this day and time. They fear what they perceive as losing control and becoming the minority. News flash! Too late.
And while we must deal with them, (because they keep threatening to leave and won’t) what I hope to communicate with this post is our need to deal with ourselves and our current feelings of anger and hatred in the meantime.
While these emotions are natural, they are also extremely toxic. While expressing anger in a reasonable way (like screaming into a pillow, punching a speed bag, lifting weights) is healthy, prolonged bouts of anger take a toll on your body. Some of these effects include increased blood pressure, headaches, and poor circulation. Some of the more severe effects include heart disease and stroke! Hate kills in more than one way.
“Research also shows that even one five-minute episode of anger is so stressful that it can impair your immune system for more than six hours.” And let us not forget that we are in the middle of a pandemic! So, none of us needs these emotions screwing with our immune systems.
The bottom line is (and I believe I said this in my last post) that hate mostly hurts the person carrying it around. We all know the toll that prolonged stress takes on your body. While it might be impossible to eliminate stress during these insane times, we must find ways to reduce our stress levels and toxic emotions.
Here are a few suggestions:
Take a break from the TV unless you are watching a movie or a documentary. Take a break from the news. (that includes social media!) Tune out of all things that you know will cause you to feel angry and upset. It’s important to be informed and aware, but not to the level of an unhealthy obsession. Take a break from talking and thinking about it.
Practice some self-care. Exercise. Take a walk. Meditate. Deep breathing exercises. Do some yoga. Engage in activities that clear your mind, body, and spirit.
Calming herbs and adaptogens like Maca Root and Ashwagandha help improve the body’s stress resistance. Stress increases cortisol. High levels of cortisol speed up the aging process. In other words, your black (or whatever color your skin might be!) will start cracking! Cortisol affects skin cells by inducing collagen loss and reducing elasticity!
Vitamin C helps lower adrenaline and cortisol levels! Kick your vitamin C game up a bit.
Connect with friends and family SAFELY and agree to talk about anything BUT politics and the events of the past year! Social bonding (Covid 19 Style) and care improve immune function.
Do something you enjoy! Bake. Cook. Paint. Puzzles. Games. Read a good book.
Self-massage with some calming essential oils or a nice foot soak while listening to some calming music.
My all-time favorite is a hot bath and a glass of cabernet!
Lastly, journal. Call it a well-being journal. Write down how you feel in your journal and then put it away. Writing ALWAYS makes me feel better. Try it.
Do what you need to do to calm down and not crack!
Tell us what you do to decrease anxiety, relax and manage anger.
Read more at: https://www.scienceofpeople.com/hate/
https://emotiontypology.com/typology/list/hate