PANIC Seeks Company
Today’s blog is nodding to the unspeakable…revealing the truth about REAL panic prior to and during life transitions.
Never in my decades on this planet has the panic been so palpable, nor have I witnessed so many try to function and make decisions during their panic. Fake it to make it is in Extreme mode. Panic an everyday staple. This can’t be sustained without damage.
Total strangers bring it up. They perceive who can listen and is not as panicked as they are. They are desperate to be heard or affirmed. This is WAY beyond a counseling moment. It is requiring dedicated and extraordinary humanity, resilience, and compassion! Good neutral questions too. This writing is beginning to sound like a blog about affirmations. Perhaps it would help…
In our state, and in many international hobby chat sites that I visit, EVERYONE seems to be looking for connection to normalcy. Looking for a new rhythm to balance their lives. Searching for anything that even implies balance. Willing to sacrifice a great deal to receive this elusive balance, yet, waiting expectantly for the other shoe to drop. Concessions everywhere. ‘What if’s’ around every decision making corner. So many things pulling on everyone. The mind poisoning is INTENSE.
Compassionately, this is simply bizarre to witness. Our team specializes in the MAD (as in crazy life stuff happening) but this current pattern development is an extreme transition outside even our norm. This is true chaos, where panic seeks company. As people panic they are getting bolder in their sharing. We will not ignore them!
Gathering insights…this well is deep and international.
PANIC is not a Life Transition
Why bring this up on a real estate website blog? Well…it’s not a simple answer. My team specializes in life transitions. Survival panic is NOT a life transition.
The reason this information is being found on a real estate website is trauma often includes real estate components that need solid decision-making and gentle guidance. IF, most people are in the traumatic reactive nature of ‘what if’s’ and PTSD, this changes everything for everybody. It implies we are all trying to survive what is unfolding. Is this a critical mass for something bigger?
In the MAD sphere, panic is most often experienced prior to the life transition. It is very symbolic of our clients’ reactions to impending life happenings. These are future MAD Realty Solutions clients…These people are not clients yet, because the life situation hasn’t happened yet, it is building and we hear the stories and help empower them with strategy.
Pending layoffs, an unexpected or future death of a loved one, selling homes, relationships melting down, money destabilized. The worry, stress, and even panic live here…in the life pocket where you have to wait for it to happen to take relevant action.
People are hesitant to make changes unless they have to. So they hunker down and they wait! Looking for more solid ground to make their move. Life transitions force you to acknowledge reality checks and make changes.
Panic is the emotional response of needing to take action while in overwhelm. Usually BEFORE or during the life transition. In trauma, there is often NO lead time. Launched into panic causes traumatic injuries immediately, that need time to heal… sometimes they make sense later. Mostly they turn into coping with many side effects to deal with.
Maui Fires
Close to home…The Maui fires are a tragic, but important subject to start with. These fires created true trauma whether you were there or not. In Washington, we are close. If we are lucky we have walked the streets they are talking about. Felt the Aloha. We have friends who survived the fire and report on what isn’t being done, their true struggles to survive AND their entire life in upheaval…and these are the survivors. They are begging us to keep the story alive online. There is DEEP betrayal to the entire community. Theirs…well ours!
There is absolute unfiltered trauma on Maui, which may take a lifetime to recover from. Even sensitive queries may seem outrageous to them. They have slipped into an important survival mode. As they scramble to survive only to discover more betrayal within, including 850+ FEMA agents sent to another Hawaiian island 3 days prior to the fire. With the added irony of locals sleeping in a tent or at friends, while these same FEMA agents now enjoy hotel suites on other parts of the island, they begin to see the pre-conceived reality that they are living through. Water turned off during the fires. Food and water limited as outside survival supplies are refused by official agencies. Blame~ cross pointing. Locals locked away from their homes, basics, and many now unemployed. Insurance and the government playing EXTREME international level leverage games to provide funding support. Eminent domain being tossed about that will take their land, their homestead. Privacy fences being placed around the fire with pretense of the ash not blowing away. Horrified that the national news is 100% different than their experience.
Most have never experienced this level of trauma…None of us have. It is impossible to imagine the depths of this.
When the trap door of life opens and drops you through, all the standard assumptions disappear. You become a survivor in an instant. PTSD is the bodies’ response to being betrayed this deeply. It doesn’t even take a tragedy this immense to trigger the response. In perceived chaos you switch to survival. It happens very fast and is the only priority. It is also VERY DIFFICULT to turn off.
Many on the island, and aware of the island, just fell through this trap door. You could replace the fire event itself with a hurricane, ice storm, dam breaking, food shortage, a flash flood…please go on. I know you know others. The world list is long.
Most feel confused, worried, betrayed and have no idea what the next step is. All they can see is that they were played, that there is a life or death game, they are game pieces, and the game isn’t over.
Predators
You can see and hear the panic in the voices of those direct survivors of the Lahaina fire.
We are also hearing the stories of the investors and government making moves for a heartless land grab. This is business, but tasteless timing of predators. These are the cold-hearted investors (not all are wired this way!) A justification of business does not make this realistic. The perspectives are diabolically opposed. Finding integrity in the approach is important.
IMHO worst of all are the predatory social media posts that are stirring trouble…making up facts to divide people.
The timing of this manipulation and betrayal clearly highlight the predators and lack of humanity on an island proud of culture around peace and humanity. A dark-hearted, and ironic Aloha.
The relentless and pariah investors sometimes find success when a panicked victim chooses to take their cash offer, just to escape the ongoing trauma…a mostly impulsive decision to move on. How this impacts both parties is a soul conversation not covered in this blog.
Survival itself can also become very predatory…like a wild animal and survival of the fittest.
In escape, the rules to SURVIVE can change in an instant. Rose on the Titanic (Hollywood romanticized of course) “I will never let you go.” Followed by letting go of his hand. It is the same. These poor Hawaiian locals are just getting started. I’m so glad they have strong community.
It appears that the local Hawaiians are being isolated by predatory layers of bureaucracy, and government manipulations, possibly a repeat of world history. This is the next level of betrayal being revealed to all of us for sure. A sham. A show! Revealing another form of the predator hidden in broad daylight… AND all of the world can see it. We are now seeing the true nature of black–ops and psychopathic manipulations. The truth and committed LIES revealed are causing panic and stress for everyone as individuals determine what to do about this exposed predator. The risk and price are high.
Panicked Decision Making
In life transitions (post trauma), people make decisions because they need to or want to do it. They are generally emotionally and physically exhausted, experiencing apathy, grief, often combined with chaos or trauma. The decision to take action on details, comes AFTER the trauma of the life event.
The timing is totally different when someone is experiencing direct trauma and then becomes a survivor. Reactive and impulsive decision-making are intense and markedly different~ often a moving target.
As intentional brokers of hope for those in the darkest of times, we are kind of the experts on what is the decision-making path that follows ‘normal’ trauma. Panic is NOT it!
Panicked decision-making is deeper…MUCH DEEPER. More like, am I going to make it through this scenario? Why did I survive? Domestic Violence and survival remorse are solid examples. There is grief, regrets, fear, second-guessing, trauma and major PTSD.
Every decision seems to calculate a strategic path to survive and protect others. Per therapists, this is telltale of PTSD decision-making. This is a HUGE topic with tons of online experts to educate on the subject matter.
Notably the impact of trauma causes PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). Simply, PTSD is triggered by trauma and affects your decision-making, and memory along with many other things.
Community PTSD
The last few years of unexpected events have taken a community toll. Not as dramatic and specific as Maui, but notable. It’s as if the whole Seattle area community suddenly has PTSD – terrified of the ‘what if’s’ and needing to take action during the chaos or completely dissociated. Ouch! They seem to be in shock.
PTSD triggers control and reactionary decision-making, paralyzing many, prompting others to escape the area. They are just trying to survive and stay ahead of incoming trauma. Panic lives in the fear of the what if’s…
This trauma seems to have a base note of psychological abuse that none of us are prepared to acknowledge as true. This is the crazy-making of intelligence propaganda…not our perceived world. Unfortunately, I know this subject well…Oh crap! The problem with psychological abuse is you often can’t see who the abuser is, you just know it’s happening, because you are so chronically confused and off-balance. It is subtle, but extremely TOXIC!
Empowerment
People like to be empowered, so they will read self-help books like “Who Moved My Cheese.” Defaulting that they are over reacting and stress is causing them anxiety. In reality, it is their healthy internal sense and default reactions to the ongoing abuse bombardment of things going sideways (now going on 4 years) that is contributing to their stress level and confusion. The massive intrusions and changes in their parallel worlds causes this trauma en masse, and it is coming from outside of them. Even attempting to normalize the restructuring and re-establishing order as a societal ‘new normal’… Being able to adapt to change is reinforced.
These 3+ years of trauma and drama, with more changes around the corner is simply too much for folks.
People have no idea how to let this trauma be an internal conversation rather than looking for validation outside of themselves and attempt to get organized enough to dodge the trauma unfolding. They often look to the news narrative or social groups to validate, but consensus is slow to form and in some cases perpetuates the chaos with judgment. Everywhere they seem to turn they are being affirmed it’s a conspiracy of their imagination. This is pre-programmed and reinforced gaslighting!!! Hmm… Maui is validating they have been played too. It is terrible to be experiencing and witnessing.
Empowerment is found in compassion (for yourself and others), patience, authenticity, even resilience. Often experienced most deeply, when the deepest grief, fear, heartbreak or chaos are active. Experiencing this trauma first hand reveals the unexpected heroes and demons. Allowing the shy to become infamous and fierce.
More Questions than Answers
On Maui, many are being forced to deal with the impossible betrayal of/and even By their own people and systems.
In Washington, the fire trauma is mostly 2nd hand, but now people are switching to the ‘what if’s’ of panic. If this level of worry and fear are sustained they can trigger physical ailments such as high blood pressure, anxiety, heart attacks, strokes and mental illness (yep, this last one is being primed and spoon fed on the daily news!)
The questions just keep coming up: “Are we next? Is this intentional? What can we do about it?” CONSENSUS is not present, but agreeing something is off is now palpable.
We want to be supportive of those needing to make decisions from this trauma brain, but also worry that impulsive decisions are made from this traumatized place. This is DEFINITELY NOT a judgment on what is true.
The MAD (Make a Difference) Way
Obviously we will do our best to walk next to and empower anyone needing to make real estate decisions that fall in parallel to these life traumas, both buyers and sellers…investors too… It is what we do… The hard part is we are experiencing this as well and trying to define the line of integrity in action. Consensus is NOT on our side, but willing hearts are!
This community PTSD is simply a new and blatant complexity that reveals most of us are experiencing some trauma. Maui is the example above, but money worries, job security, unexpected deaths, smoke, food shortages, housing, anxieties of many levels and veiled threats about our future are feeding the discord. The set up for a mental health crisis is blatant. You name it…we are hearing about it… AND each trauma-inducing subject seems plausible and relevant to us all.
Perfect Storm
Truly hoping this doesn’t become a perfect storm. Certainly hoping it is not an intentional perfect storm as some are convinced of. We are actively following the facts in each scenario and doing our best to be strategic. This is new to all of us for certain. Our team is trying to provide empowerment and sharing truth as discovered, even forecasting a bit. This often alienates those with the deepest dissociation. We don’t take it personally… The dissociation keeps many from listening…until it impacts them directly AND then they want to hear.
