Gloucester and Vicarious Trauma
Totally Unrelated Topics!
Last week my husband and I took a day trip to Gloucester, Massachusetts. Nothing historical sparked my writing imagination. Fried oysters, a windy walk along the coast, and quality time with David marked the day instead.
In 2008 I spent a weekend alone in Gloucester to absorb something of the place. I wrote an article which was published in an online travel and world culture journal. Here is a link to my article which I’m still proud of. I offer it for your reading enjoyment this week.
In the remaining space this week I’d like to write a few words about vicarious trauma. I think I’ve been experiencing vicarious trauma the past few months as I read the news of evil, violence, war, pandemic, racism, white supremacism, hatred, our democracy and civil rights under attack, corruption in church and state…and the list goes on and on with something to send me reeling every week, week after week.
Despite my own life being peaceful and untraumatic, I sometimes find myself falling into hopelessness and crying too often. I want to do something, but I feel useless in the face of the enormity of it all. A couple weeks ago I couldn’t even bring myself to go for coffee with a great friend.
Maybe some of you, my readers, have struggled in some of these same ways. I offer three approaches I’ve been using to deal with my vicarious trauma.
Despite FOMO (fear of missing out) I detached from Twitter. I was struggling to bear the weight everyone’s opinions and rages. I get most of my news from The Hill, a media outlet that is center of Left or Right bias, and stay away from most social media.
I allow myself to feel the pain of the world deeply, in agony, for some time each morning in prayer. I pray for peace and justice in the world and the United States and direction and courage for my little part in spreading love where I am.
I walk. Four or five times a week I walk four miles on a trail where I am surrounded by nature’s healing beauty.
Many of you know me personally, and I invite you to reach out to me if you feel like talking and mutually supporting each other. I offer a prayer for all of you as we walk faithfully and courageously through this time we live in.
I’m not sure what my Substack writing will be this summer. In three weeks, I’m starting two months of summer language school at Harvard Divinity School to learn French for reading theological texts. I’ll be busy. And most people are busy in the summer, so my posts will be less frequent until the Fall. But I remain committed to bringing to you insights from our history.
If you have approaches that help you endure these stressful times, I invite you to share them in the comments.
