“It’s too much to process” is something I hear people say, in my therapy groups and elsewhere.
“It’s too much to even process” is something Jimmy Kimmel said in his monologue last night about the Las Vegas mass shooting:
What do you do when it’s too much to process? Do you cry, like Jimmy Kimmel did? Is it numbing, a word Conan O’Brien used in his monologue about the largest mass shooting in U.S. history?
Do you ask, “How could this happen?” as Conan did there? Do you say, “It makes no sense to me”? “Something needs to change”? “I am truly heartbroken”?
When it’s too much to process, do you try to somehow make meaning of what’s happened? Do you try to get people to see things your way? Do you get angry? Do you give up? Do you take action? Do you try to block things from your mind? Do you distract yourself any way you can? Do you look for the good in people? Do you isolate? Do you blame? Do you pray? Do you look for any humor you can find, for moments of relief?
Here are more (usually) humorous people responding to the same too-much-to-process mass shooting:
It’s too much to process that Tom Petty is dead at age 66.
What do you do when it’s too much to process?
When it’s too much to process, I reach out to others.
I’m reaching out to you, here and now.
Feel free to process in a comment, below.
Thanks to all for processing with me today.
The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally 
Beyond words, sad, this world we live in now..
Thank you for your words.
Not intending to trivialize the last 36 hours, but you can process it like you eat an elephant. . . one bite at a time.
Thanks for processing, Ray.
I am praying and meditating on loving-kindness, compassion, and peace
Thank you for your beautiful process.
Some days, Ann, you go on because it’s what the people left do.
We go on, Mark.
Such a unnecessary tragedy Ann. As an observer from Australia, I’ve my own strong opinions, but it’s not place to process them here…….
Thank you for your observation and opinions, Ivors.
This entry is brilliant and i am very glad you approached these remArkable losses in this too rare and much needed way- by asking questions. To allow oneself and others the questions is to honor our humanity. To be curious about self and others means a willingness, even a desire, to listen. Askng questions is an invitation to listen to another- and includes implicit recognition that others’ experience is not knpwn until it is expressed. And by asking questions, one gives oneself the gift of conversations with one’s own many voices. Dr. William Kates once said to me curiosity is one of the highest and most necessary expressions of love
Thank you for your curiosity, humanity, and love, Carol.
It’s disturbing and incredibly sad the world we live in right now. It’s really is too much to process. You captured it so well Ann. Thank you 💕
Thank you, Val. ❤
People have to begin, or return to, seeing one another as equals; and stop viewing one another in terms of groups, subgroups, ethnicity or political affiliation, sex or religious sect. It isn’t a new problem by far but our ways of dealing with it have fallen seriously by the wayside in favor of a rise in barbaric mentalities, fuelled and fed by the darkness that feeds on such emotions. Forgiveness is the key but it takes a lot of courage to forgive. As humans we cling to that which we believe, or have been taught to believe, and that unfortunately too often takes precidence over what matters most. And to each individual tha is so vastly different. We may not be able to change people who are ingrained with certain beliefs. I implore young parents to please, please, don’t teach your children to emulate others, to try to be group oriented, that it isn’t okay to be an individual, or that it matters to be the best, have the most or always win. Mercy, grace, understanding of love begins at birth, is nurtured in the home-not in schools or clubs or even churches. Sadly, it only ends when we stop hating. Thank you. 💔
Thank you for every word of your thoughtful process.
It’s all just too much, for sure, for the most sensitive of spirits among us. I was numb, then sad, then angry, then sought to distract myself. There’s no easy way, Ann. Thanks for realizing that.
Thank you for your sensitivity and your process. ❤
Great post, friend. Often I feel I can’t process it all either. I think we all feel that way. So what do we do? Let it go. Say we’re sorry, say we’re sorry we can’t understand it all or fix any of it and let it go. Some things are just not made to be understood.
We understand each other, my friend.
Here: hold my hand.
I think that’s what we need to do…….we hold hands and cross the streets together in this world that has turned upside down. We meet hate with united love and keep on walking.
I hold your hands. Many thanks.
My comment:
❤
We keep on keeping on, doing our own little bit towards living together in harmony, encouraging others to do the same. Hugs to America.
Hugs to you, Peter.
This morning on NPR a reporter interviewed some counselors who work in Las Vegas and asked them, “Who counsels the counselors?” One replied, “We counsel each other.”
When it gets to be too much we can turn to each other.
Thanks for your wise counsel, Chris.
I keep trying Ann. But I am allowing myself the knowledge that this is something I might not be able to process.
I appreciate your knowledge, Colleen.
It’s still too much to process. The one thing I thought about was we all need to go out a hug someone just so people will know someone cares. Maybe that could help save some body’s life. One thing helped today, while I was out walking to and from the grocery store, my neighbors and I spoke and smiled at each other. I have really nice neighbors. And that helped.
Thanks for your helpful process, Elva. Hugs to you.
Yes, it is too much. I find that I’m distancing myself from it, telling myself it doesn’t affect me, that the idea I might be mowed down by random gunfire feels too remote to take seriously. I am fervently for gun restrictions, and fervently against the NRA as I understand them. And yet random violence could hit me or someone I love. Terrifying. And how incredibly sad about Tom Petty! We are the same age. Yesterday I told my husband that his death reminds me that I too could be felled by a heart attack at any time. My recent hospitalization and multitude of tests revealed what had not been there or at least detected before: an “age-related” hardening of part of the aorta and some fluid around the heart. “Nothing to worry about.” Sure. Yikes!
It’s too much to process, Sunny, and I’m processing hopes and good wishes for you. ❤
It is way too much to process because I can’t keep up with all the processing. But, in an attempt to process, I turn to music, it seems to ease the pain. Thank you for this, Ann. I hope you are processing everything okay. xo
Thanks for your beautiful process. I turn to music, too. xxoo
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