I don’t know about you, but when I wake up in the morning, even after a decent night of sleep, I am exhausted. I have been exhausted, outraged, moved, anxious, and pretty much every other emotion possible since the first Harvey Weinstein story broke on October 5. Actually, I take that back: I’ve been feeling this overwhelming range of emotions since last year’s election. But the confluence of the reckoning that is happening now — which started in the entertainment business and has morphed into every other workplace — and a serial predator in the White House destroying the fabric of our rights, especially our reproductive rights, sometimes just feels like it’s too much to deal with. It’s hard to concentrate when you don’t know what insane, and much-needed, story will be coming next from the intrepid reporters working diligently to unearth the truth.

This reckoning is thousands of years in the making. And it’s mind-blowing for women. Something that we hoped would happen, yet never believed actually would. Women endure a ton of shit just getting through the day, from the everyday sexism of walking around with your head on a swivel, to blatant harassment in the workplace. Many women — and of course some men — also have to deal with the experiences of being sexually assaulted and raped.

What we are living through is unprecedented, and quite frankly the rules of everyday life have changed. Men are struggling with how to deal with women in the workplace respectfully (finally!) and women are feeling emboldened to share their truths in a profound way. I hope the stories keep on coming and coming and coming.

One of the issues I’m noticing is that there seems to be no vocabulary with how to deal with what we are experiencing. This is unchartered terrain in many ways. While abuse and harassment have been going on for a long, long time, the conversations about it have not been public. Until now. So as this conversation gains momentum and participants, I want us to think about how we deal with the gradations of abuse.

The myriad of stories we are seeing have various outcomes. We’re seeing evidence of severe economic impact, careers aborted, and lives destroyed. We’re redefining the ground we walk on — and it’s precarious territory. We don’t want to make the wrong comparisons, or belittle what someone has gone through.

Having your ass grabbed at work or having a tongue thrust down your throat at meeting about your career, for example, can truly be traumatic. Having unwanted sexual comments directed your way can be too. I am in no way trying to minimize the impact of incidents like this on sets or in other workplaces. They are unacceptable. Full stop.

Kater Gordon, who won an Emmy for writing “Mad Men” alongside series creator Matt Weiner, has stated that Weiner basically said that the toll she had to pay for her privilege to be a part of the writing staff was to show him her naked body. According to former “Mad Men” writer Marti Noxon, who was told about the event contemporaneously, Kater was “shaken and subdued” after the alleged event, and she was let go at the end of the season. She left the business.

Then we have the women like Rose McGowan and Annabella Sciorra, who were raped and have had to endure the unimaginable for decades from Weinstein. The reporting from The New Yorker on the organized and systemic harassment following the disgraced mogul’s crimes against them are beyond horrifying.

I am searching for ways to talk about what is happening. To be respectful of what women have experienced. To continue to amplify their voices as much as possible. In this new and uncertain time we must be honest that there will be some casualties as we struggle to figure out the right way to handle something that there is very little precedent for.

I realize that I’m going to use the wrong words. I’m going to say the wrong things. We’re all going to have to learn together. People who believe these women and believe their stories aren’t necessarily going to agree on every facet of this evolving conversation. And sometimes people might struggle to articulate exactly what their thoughts and feelings are.

We are watching the power shift from the men who have always held it to women who are finally, finally being believed, and who are saying, “no more.” The Women’s March was just the beginning. The Weinstein effect is making its way through our culture. It’s hit media. It’s hitting politics. It’s everywhere. And let’s be clear: there will be a backlash and it will be monumental, because this reckoning is so profound that the patriarchy is nervous. And so we must be ready.

This is just the end of the beginning.