Miley Cyrus came out with a new song on Friday called “When I Was Young.” It has struck a nerve with listeners. I now teach music and art appreciation and we started “Karoke Fridays.” A few co-workers sang with my high school students on Friday.  The next day, I was tagged on Facebook with a YouTube cover of Cyrus’s song from a co-worker. It is a hauntingly melancholic song about love, loss, and getting older. Some lyrics from the song: 

I know I used to be crazy/ 

I know I used to be fun/ 

You say I used to be wild/ 

I say I used to be young/

You tell me time has done changed me/ 

That’s fine/

I’ve had a good run/

One of my favorite bands, The Gaslight Anthem, released a new song last month with Bruce Springsteen as a collaboration on the song “History Books.” Brian Fallon is looking back at loves lost, chapters closed and he has stated in interviews he is writing about life during and post-pandemic. 

What’s that you say?

I knew you when?

You don’t look too much like my friend/

Those history books/

Filled up with crooks/

Stories I don’t want to read again/

I’ve tried to live one thousand years from here/

When I think of it now, it just brings me down/

When I think of it now/

And when I think of it now, it just brings me down/

When I think of you now/

Miley Cyrus is only 30 years old, but she has been in the Hollywood spotlight for most of her life and has had some moments of chaotic drama. Brian Fallon, of The Gaslight Anthem, is 42. That is more middle-aged, but definitely not ready for retirement anytime soon. 

These very melancholic songs from relatively young people got me to thinking: Are we all experiencing collective trauma in 2023? 

Since 2016, we have lived through the #metoo movement, a pandemic, an insurrection, the worst inflation in a generation, the indictment of a former president,  multiple protests for different social injustices, historical natural disasters, and multiple mass shootings. The year 2015 is looking really great right now. 

If you look at American life since Sept. 11, 2001, there have been significant cultural and collective trauma. My good friend, whose husband served in Iraq in 2003, said to me recently that she misses life before 9/11. 

According to Psychology Today, collective trauma is the psychological distress that a group — usually an entire culture, community, or another large group of people — experience in response to a shared trauma. In order to impact the entire group, such traumas are usually devastating in their scope and impact.  

This all is so overwhelming. How do we collectively heal? 

According to Frontiers in Psychology, “A great way to fight feelings of powerlessness is to look for ways to help other people who are suffering to remind them, and yourself, that we are in this together. Healing comes from community connection, meaningful work, engaging in spiritual practices, and creative practices.” 

Volunteer in your community. Get to know your neighbors. Help with an art project in your downtown. Host a game night at a local restaurant. Write about your life experiences the last few years. Go to Hobby Lobby and buy a canvas and paint — just for the joy of painting. 

We live in a beautiful community. Healing from trauma isn’t entirely a solo project. It takes a village. Have a lovely holiday weekend. 

See you on the flip side.