We don't even notice

We have become a country of extremes. We have become desensitized to everyday joys and everyday pains. Our individual and collective psyche is numb. Have you ever noticed that winning the lottery is only talked about if the pot is above $500 million dollars? Yet nearly everyday people win $1 million, $ 5 million and even $10s of millions of dollars and this doesn't even make a blimp on the news radar. This type of occurrence used to bring joy and smiles to our faces. Now we don't even notice. Likewise, the weekend of August 3/4 two shootings occurred in 2 American cities less than a day apart and we're collectively horrified. Yet dozens of shootings occur everyday in neighborhoods all across America and it goes unnoticed. Our heart do not cry out. We have come to accept this sadness as routine in American life. Because we have become desensitized we nearly ignore the everyday sadnesses and travesties that pervade our everyday lives. I'm sure this has developed as a defense to protect us from the daily onslaught of horrible news that could easily invade our psyche and our spirits. But this also prevents us from activating, using our pain, our anger, and our outrage to demand change. We know the power to change comes from the collective anger and outrage of people who have had enough. Yet, we have allowed ours to be dampened and desensitized to the point that we no longer demand action and in fact accept the unacceptable. We don't mean to. But we have. How will we start to notice again? How will we build the #realconnections that mend our collective psyche and help us to heal? How will we activate ourselves so that #massshootings don't have to occur in order for us to feel the pain of what is happening in our country? How do we show #love to one another in our everyday lives? I wish I had all the answers. Today I'm just full of more questions. #socialchange #amerikantherapy #drt4abetterworld @tanyaaroystermd #DrT4ABetterWorld #MentalHealthAwareness #BlackPsychiatrist #TherapyforBlackGirls