We Need to Talk About Rage
Photo by Michael Bracey Photography
You won’t be reading about specific moments that caused my original rage or what reignited it. Some of you will relate to rage, having experienced it yourself, and others will not. And I feel it’s an important topic to consider.
In my play, Late: a Love Story, I share, “I grew up in a home with a family that was mostly silent. Though calling it a home is generous and it wasn’t much of a childhood for that matter, despite great privilege. The thing is, behind the silence was rage. Better to be silent.”
This rage lived within me in the form of a silent scream which I also share, “There was this scream as old as I can remember. Like sticks of dynamite going off inside of me all the time. Explosions with nowhere to go. A wildness. Trapped. A ticking time bomb.” And I ask, “How many of us are walking around with a silent scream that haunts, torments?”
Today I rage against the injustice, trauma, harm, and cruelty in this country and beyond. History tells us that this is the way of the world, that there is no escape. My rage also comes from a place that will never accept that these things are what we are meant to experience.
When the rage was at its worst, I was sure I was going crazy. A rage so profound that my thoughts would range from—I want to hurt myself; I want to hurt others. Do whatever it takes to make it go away. By any means possible. Please make it stop! And I don’t do physical harm to myself or others. It won’t satisfy. It won’t quell the storm that dwells inside of me. I don’t know why I know that, I just do. If anything, the very thought leaves me feeling more lost, a nightmare that seems to have no end.
The people that hurt others physically, those that kill in the most horrific ways, I understand that. More than that, I feel their pain, their rage. I think of the people in Syria who were beheading their prisoners with swords. I could imagine the sword in my hands and the rage that feeds on itself.
Meanwhile, my heart yearns for peace. And I trust that people who have committed the most atrocious acts carry within their hearts the same yearning…for peace.
Rage is a part of me. It’s interesting writing about this because I’ve never had a conversation with people about rage. How many people would say they have felt rage, admit to having rage? How many people would admit that they didn’t know how to control it when they did feel rage? What would they say if we sat in a circle and shared?
I bring up my personal rage because I know first hand how destructive it can be, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and I’m only one person. Now think about all the people in this country and around the world who are filled with rage…We can’t wish it away. We can’t bury it; it will rise again, until it doesn’t. Are we willing to do the work, to get to the root of rage and make resources available so we may heal and walk together in peace?
Thank you for being in my world.
Radical love,
Rachelle
October 8, 2025
