It is official: we are all in collective trauma. There is really no point in being competitive about it, although, for economic reasons, many people are worse off than others. However, it is good to acknowledge that at this particular time, we are all threatened. Unfortunately, for many, this has become a platform to point out our various differences and how some of us have more monopoly on suffering—or alternatively preparedness—than others. I’ve seen people in on-line recovery groups posting memes about alcoholics being better prepared than non-alcoholics. (I’m talking about on-line AA groups, so I’m using the word “alcoholics” as that’s what people there refer to themselves as.) I’ve seen people pontificating about how they were better off because they had a Higher Power. I understand there’s a desire to convince ourselves that we are unique, and I think this desire stems from fear—I mean, if we tell the world that we are special, then maybe it’s true? But it’s not true, it’s an illusion. Sure, maybe having strong faith in Higher Power and belief in your own superpowers makes this ordeal a little less taxing, but make no mistake: we are all equally at risk here. We are all going through trauma. And for those reasons, we should be focusing on solutions, not the cause of the problem, or even the problem itself (we can’t come up with a vaccine on our own, so let’s leave it to the scientists).

Read the remainder of Read the remainder of HOW TO DEAL WITH TRAUMA AS IT’S ON-GOING at AA Beyond Belief.

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