It made a world of difference to me to conceptualize a micro-aggression as a reminder that you are not safe.

Micro-aggressions are often represented as little pokes throughout the day that eventually leave you bruised and tired. In that case the number of micro-aggressions is the harmful part. One micro-aggression isn’t bad, but a hundred of them are.

But if you understand micro-aggressions as reminders that there is a force present that is a threat to your survival, then suddenly it makes perfect sense that a single micro-aggression can send your survival instinct ‘ALERT. THREAT TO SURVIVAL DETECTED’ mode which
sends your whole emotional system into overdrive.