The last six weeks have been so full of dramatic news that, bizarrely, it feels like nothing at all has happened. The mind, perhaps in an effort to protect itself from whiplashing change, seems to stop processing huge news of great impact after enough of it happens. Or, maybe it’s just that no news is big news when everything is big news.

The only way I have to even discuss thoughts about the last couple of months is to compare the things that have happened with the story of my own life during the same period. Comparing things in this way has felt even more disconcerting, as my own life feels normal against the backdrop of national turmoil. I am disturbingly reminded of everything that I’ve ever read that’s written by those who live in burgeoning autocracies.

One of my brothers got married about five weeks ago. I remember my brother Adam and I playing when we were really little, usually pretending to be Sonic the Hedgehog or something like that (we were a Genesis family; back off, Nintendo philistines). As we grew up, we grew apart a bit. I went into band, technology jobs, and a humanities degree. Adam went into most sports that I can think of, and eventually science degrees. Seeing and talking to each other as adults, though, we’ve always been able to have great conversations about politics, science, or just talking in movie lines. Seeing him married to the love of his life was a really emotional experience. Likewise was the opportunity to see so many family members and friends at the wedding.

Likewise, I have something new going on at work as well. I’ve moved from the position that I’ve been in for the past two and a half years, into a new area. In my case, it’s a move back to an area that I’ve been in before, but in a new role that’s never existed before. I’m very excited about the opportunity that I’ve been afforded to help define a new role and to have an even greater impact on my team. So, even in my own individual sphere, life continues as normal, with career moves and growth happening.

Oh, and there’s that one other thing too…

The feelings about this could fill up their own post, and maybe at some point soon I will try. In brief, it’s early, so it still feels a little unreal somehow. I’m also excited and scared in equal measure, knowing that a lot of life changes are coming. At the same time, it’s both joyous and normal. I’m 31, she’s 30, and it’s time; yet another milestone cast upon such a strange backdrop.

Meanwhile...

• The President went on a foreign trip during which he deliberately didn't commit to defend our allies if they were attacked.
• The United States has withdrawn from a huge international agreement on climate change and traded our leadership for China's in renewable energy.
• The former director of the FBI, after being fired by the sitting President, testified under oath that that sitting President is a liar.
• The Attorney General of the United States testified under oath that he could not answer questions that in fact he had no legal basis to not answer.
• The Senate majority leader, having previously derided Democrats for allegedly crafting bills behind closed doors, crafted a health care bill behind closed doors that could cause utter chaos in the country's health care system.

I can honestly say that I am fatigued, because the barrage every day is fatiguing. You can’t look away, though, once you’ve started paying attention. I don’t necessarily have a larger point to make; I can’t claim that the normal good things in our lives totally cancel out the wider turmoil, and I will never argue that our own everyday pleasures absolve us from caring about the threats that others face.

The best approach, perhaps, is to allow the great precious things that happen in our individual lives to give us hope and fortitude for the darker, more frustrating things that we have to encounter in the broader world. The best approach for all of us as a collective would be to likewise remember that we’re all just vulnerable people living precious moments, and to share in each other’s joys instead of engaging in ideological fights. Our politics needs to shift from politicians talking to us, to us talking to each other.