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To the Survivor,
I am sorry Mr. Trump was elected president. As a survivor (or rather thriver) of sexual abuse, I know the trigger of watching the news and having a man accused of rape appear in bold format before my eyes. I know the never ceasing tremble down my beautifully healthy spine coming from the knowledge that a man capable of worldly destruction is in an authoritative position over me and over my country.
I internally wince when I see him blaring off in his thick booming voice, speaking, and moving his hands animatedly like a movie character. In all due honest contrast, I have been blessed with quite the sense of humor and a hearty belly laugh by watching a man of such a position blubber his hands around demonstrating his great lack of ABC’s to public speaking and emotional intelligence. His moving authoritative figure shifts its form like the shapeshifter in Harry Potter and my screen shows a man, a president, a comedian. And nothing short of or more than that.
But that is just me.
The heart racing? The spurts of crying? Being helplessly trapped in a mind that flashbacks over and over again?
I know that.
I have been there.
And this is what I want to say.
It is okay.
It is okay to feel triggered by the president. It is okay to glance at his face on the front page of every newspaper and routinely start to cross the street so you won’t have to fight the sight of him any longer. It is okay to shut off the radio so you won’t feel the disrespect he so often “distributes” to so many minorities. It is okay to do what you need to do. It is okay to avoid him. To hate him. Love him. Be curious and interested in what he has to say while hating every minute of it.
You are not alone.
Victim, survivor, thriver, person, please remember that when the thunder thunders in your ears, and the raindrops pelt like knives on your skin, that there is also a flash of lightning, a spark of hope, to feel and be okay again.
Please hold onto hope because you matter very much to God, myself and to so many people around you.
You can and you will trump Trump’s triggers.
Sincerely,
Devorah
Previously Published on The Times of Israel
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Photo: Getty Images
I agree with this, though it’s not the entire story. The President-Elect, in my view, is pond scum. I’ve little doubt that he did exactly what he confessed on tape to doing. And I never found persuasive his ex-wife’s retraction of her rape allegations against him. However, if the other candidate had won, an unconvicted sex offender would also have been moving (back) into the White House. A lot of us would have been triggered by that also. Had it turned out that way, though, nobody would have been writing pieces in the Times of Israel or the Good Men… Read more »