Changing the Conversation

The events of the past few weeks have left me sputtering with rage. Plenty has been said about the political, sociological, and moral side of our federal government’s proceedings. I don’t want to speak to that right now. I want to speak to you.

For those of us with trauma histories, for those of us who are women/sexual minorities, for those of us who feel injustice deeply, for those of us who are decent human beings - these are incredibly difficult times. We have to take care of ourselves and one another.

Have you ever watched an infant play? I mean really observed them? Try it some time, and while you watch, contemplate this...

At birth, we have 100 billion neurons, most of which are not connected. Infants form 700 new neural connections every second – tens of thousands of pathways that literally build the architecture of their brains. Through their senses and their relationships, they come to know the external world, and their brain begins to build the systems to understand it. The attention they receive (or don’t) from their primary caregivers, stimulation they receive from their environment, stress they experience and the responses to that stress by those around them reinforce or prune away at their neural connections and promote or hinder cognitive, physical, and social-emotional development.

February 2, 2015

It’s a snow day in Boston. As I write this, the wind is swirling and there is already a foot of new snow on the ground. Our radiators are hissing. Downstairs, my husband is making the kids their breakfast. I can hear the clinking of bowls, the baby babbling, and our seven-year old bopping around the living room, likely looking for a ball to bounce.

Here is the gist of what I came across as I was sifting through the news these past few days: