You know the feeling: you get home from your vacation, and then it’s time to unpack your bags. Ugh! All the belongings you so carefully packed for your trip have now been haphazardly crammed back in for your return trip. Hmmmm…I see an opportunity for a correlation here. As a first responder, we work diligently to ensure our gear and equipment are packed and ready to deploy at a moment’s notice. Especially that ambulance. It’s all clean, stocked and tagged. Then you get that call, yeah, that call. The one that upends your entire truck. Then, you throw it all back in to rush your patient to the ER. Once you’ve transferred care, you get to return to that mess and clean up. Gosh, if only my analogy were that simple. Let’s take it a step further. What else do we need to “unpack and clean up?” That gray matter, that’s what. What about the horrible things we just witnessed that we just haphazardly threw back in our heads to unpack later?
That trauma and everything we just experienced is a lot like dirty underwear that’s been simmering in our suitcases for the last week. It ain’t getting any better the longer you leave it there. I promise! My point is pretty apparent: At some point, we have to unpack it all and deal with it. The longer we leave it, the nastier it gets.
If only unpacking our subconscious was as easy as throwing in the washer. Right? But it is hard. We have to start by acknowledging that we have some unpacking to do. Sometimes, we could use a little help. (You wash, I’ll fold) That’s where talking with your trusted peeps comes in. Sometimes, it’s too much, and you must take it to the laundromat or dry cleaners. There’s no shame in getting professional help when it comes to unpacking. Sometimes, it’s a big and daunting task. As my husband’s Grandma used to say, “Many hands make light work.”
I’m on a roll here; I could develop these analogies all day. I’ll spare you, though, because I think you got the point. So go unpack that suitcase and quit letting your nasty socks marinate. That’s just gross!
