I feel ya, 5 year old Sandi, I feel ya.
I certainly don't have any grand solutions for these times except doing the work that is mine to do, but here are some things that are helping while I am doing that work. They may be tiny but the tiny and contestant are more powerful than the grand and unsustainable. When times are stressful, go for the tiny and consistent.
1.
Finding ways to fall in love with a more dangerous world.
Covid, rising fascism, roll backs of rights, on-going mass shootings, Monkey pox for heaven's sake! I'm not talking about loving the injustice, loss, or hardship, but this world is glorious and mysterious too, and for all of our faults humans are wondrous. It can be hard to find the lovable sometimes but it doesn't mean it is not worth the effort. My friend and I send feel good reels back and forth to each other and it is one way that
helps me find some love for this more dangerous world.
2.
Clarity of intention.
Desire or purpose are other words. I have not checked in with mine in a long time. I've bemoaned its absence. I've been feeling untethered and adrift. But I have not actually spent time finding what is true now, because what is was no longer fits who I am now.
3.
Keeping tiny rituals.
Some of mine: Morning tea, incense for the ancestors, writing this little missive... Maybe yours includes walking your dog or making breakfast or watering the garden. These things are the subtle beat of our lived rhythm. They may not seem like much but they are foundational ways we belong to our own life. What makes an ordinary task a sacred ritual? The conscious attention and intention of it.
4.
Water and a little bit of time.
