Denial is the first stage of grief and some people stay there forever--suspended in animation, never being able to see past their own pain, acting out of that wounded space, all while having no idea where it's all stemming from. As individuals, as family units, as communities, as a country, and as a species, we have been suffering from collective denial about the state of things. Maybe it's time to start accepting where we are. The only way out is through.