Leaving Nebraska was a painful decision that took months. I could feel things changing with the new administration, because they moved my job to the hospitals, told me I would be working with sex offenders, told me I would have to reapply for my job as they reclassified it, and I was informed that I would be moved to an office that was housed above sex offenders. All this was too much and asking me, as a trauma survivor, to serve sex offenders was not working at all. I became very ill and went on medical leave.
Georgia, my family, and my friends in Georgia were in my heart and I decided to be closer to their love while I was on medical leave. I healed and I decided enough was enough. I decided to stay in Georgia and it was a great decision, because I landed in a fabulous place of employment after months of waiting. I'm so happy today and I am glad I made this decision. It was an expensive decision, but I am so proud of me for taking care of me. I knew my value in the larger market of employment, it is a niche market, but I truly love the work of assisting the people with behavioral health conditions to live lives of resilience and recovery!
The world is spinning with trauma and pain. Once in a while, we need to stop and listen to the voice of the trauma survivor. Trauma takes many forms, it can be real life in the now violence and it can result from a history of violence that a culture remembers. We have places that give voice to Georgia's trauma, like the amazing history of Martin Luther King, Jr and other civil rights leaders. We do not have a place I can readily recognize the current in the now voice of troubled and traumatized citizens. The Dalai Lama was welcomed at the Centennial Olympic Park years ago to speak to the importance to compassion. That stage would be a wonderful spot to dialogue on modern issues and theater is a great way to get people's attention.
I will never forget the theater of the protest of Martha Burke at Augusta National Golf Tournament. There was a big pig that said, "While CEO's play, women pay." There were puppets representing characters of the day. As a participant, I thought it was a little over the top, but the truth is that it spoke to what many women were thinking. It was a grand way of communicating a group's truth about exclusion of women.
We are in desperate need of dialogue in America and perhaps theater could release the pain and create symbols of healing for people. We also need to practice the skills of compassion in relationships publicly. Like, what if we had a hug in or teddy bear exchange after a play on the trauma of the moment that people are feeling. There is much work to do to heal in America.
Peace and Love,
Carol
As I quit my job, I didn't really think I would be landing in a world of poverty. I haven't been poor since college, and even then I fluttered within because I found a job I hated that kept me alive. This time was different, because I landed my whole family in poverty. I believed I must follow a path back to Georgia and found unemployment without even unemployment benefits. I learned a lot. You have less energy, when you are poor for lunches and coffees with friends because there is no flow. When you have food stamps, people judge your comments as you walk through the checkout line. Some pharmacies, don't include the handy little cups for your medicine when your child has medicaid. When I dressed the part of poverty, I felt it deep inside. I had to believe in myself and not dress the part. I had to believe that the job was coming and do everything in my power to make that happen, despite the odds of a middle manager flood. I went to vocational rehabilitation to get counseling, because I didn't want to leave any stone unturned that could change the reality I was living. My family's poverty ends on Monday and I am overjoyed that I was able to keep hope alive. Everyone should have savings, understand a budget, understand how much you spend, and pursuit education with vigor. Most of all, we must keep hope alive for change.
