Reading this felt like somebody finally turned the lights on in Pete Hegseth’s haunted church basement. He thrives on panic and projection, but naming the pattern steals his power. Boundaries are kryptonite for Christian Nationalists because they can’t weaponize what you’ve already claimed for yourself. And honestly, Petey’s whole “warrior ethos” is just cosplay with a Bible and a razor burn.
Thank you for this. I've been trying to take a similar approach to the news cycle. Sometimes I was feeling guilty for not "keeping up" with the chaos. Your writing continues to help me. Thank you so much. Now I can borrow your words when I need to articulate or remind myself why I need this approach.
Thank you Tia. Its hard to not react in panic but remain calm and not go into a rage while Pete does his thing. Another Substacker mentioned how he thought it was "homoerotic" about Pete's blessing on how "putting hands on" a recruit would be o.k." and I thought about your writings and how corporal punishment and abuse is a part of Christian Nationalism. The Substacker wasn't looking at him through that lens. I'm glad I understood because of how your work has informed me. ( As well as Andra Watkins). I've removed a lot of the triggering accounts from my Instagram feed but find I can tolerate reading better.
Tia, this is the empowering message we need right now. A couple weeks ago, I found myself so dysregulated after binging social media posts that I had to take a break from social for a couple weeks. It took that long to get my nervous system back to a healthy place when I went online. I didn't want to avoid the news altogether, so I approached it mindfully, with intention and with limits, and named my emotions while reading. I realized I'm no good to anyone if I'm not grounded. The whole experience has made me more intentional about how I engage with social media and news content. Thank you for suggesting tools to help people engage with what's going on in the world while taking care of themselves.
This was very helpful. I am in a difficult season anyway, and seeing the daily antics of the Trump administration are very triggering to me. Thank you so much.
Take a look at Jack Hopkins here on Substack for more information about how to handle the news cycle. We need to take it seriously and not freeze or retreat or pretend that reality is not real.
I so deeply appreciate this article. The specific sensory grounding steps were so very helpful to me, because the "5,4,3,2,1" technique is too vague to be helpful!
I was also surprised by how much "feed" as a trauma reaction makes sense for my brain!! As I feel more in danger, I try to have as much information as possible, or I try to dull it by online window shopping for way too many hours! My brain fog and doomscrolling has been skyrocketing, and reading your words was like opening the windows and turning a fan on 💛
Thank you so much for this. I was not aware of the three new trauma responses, and I clearly need to be before I “feed” my way back to my addictions.
Reading this felt like somebody finally turned the lights on in Pete Hegseth’s haunted church basement. He thrives on panic and projection, but naming the pattern steals his power. Boundaries are kryptonite for Christian Nationalists because they can’t weaponize what you’ve already claimed for yourself. And honestly, Petey’s whole “warrior ethos” is just cosplay with a Bible and a razor burn.
Thank you for this. I've been trying to take a similar approach to the news cycle. Sometimes I was feeling guilty for not "keeping up" with the chaos. Your writing continues to help me. Thank you so much. Now I can borrow your words when I need to articulate or remind myself why I need this approach.
Tia Levings 2028
Thank you Tia. Its hard to not react in panic but remain calm and not go into a rage while Pete does his thing. Another Substacker mentioned how he thought it was "homoerotic" about Pete's blessing on how "putting hands on" a recruit would be o.k." and I thought about your writings and how corporal punishment and abuse is a part of Christian Nationalism. The Substacker wasn't looking at him through that lens. I'm glad I understood because of how your work has informed me. ( As well as Andra Watkins). I've removed a lot of the triggering accounts from my Instagram feed but find I can tolerate reading better.
Tia, this is the empowering message we need right now. A couple weeks ago, I found myself so dysregulated after binging social media posts that I had to take a break from social for a couple weeks. It took that long to get my nervous system back to a healthy place when I went online. I didn't want to avoid the news altogether, so I approached it mindfully, with intention and with limits, and named my emotions while reading. I realized I'm no good to anyone if I'm not grounded. The whole experience has made me more intentional about how I engage with social media and news content. Thank you for suggesting tools to help people engage with what's going on in the world while taking care of themselves.
This was very helpful. I am in a difficult season anyway, and seeing the daily antics of the Trump administration are very triggering to me. Thank you so much.
Very grateful for your voice.
This is excellent. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Take a look at Jack Hopkins here on Substack for more information about how to handle the news cycle. We need to take it seriously and not freeze or retreat or pretend that reality is not real.
I so deeply appreciate this article. The specific sensory grounding steps were so very helpful to me, because the "5,4,3,2,1" technique is too vague to be helpful!
I was also surprised by how much "feed" as a trauma reaction makes sense for my brain!! As I feel more in danger, I try to have as much information as possible, or I try to dull it by online window shopping for way too many hours! My brain fog and doomscrolling has been skyrocketing, and reading your words was like opening the windows and turning a fan on 💛
Well said. Thank you for bringing us back into our bodies and for reminding us to protect our nervous system during the chaos.