It's the little things

I have to keep reminding myself of this magic thing right now.

Looking at my various screens sometimes makes me want to scream, sometimes cry, sometimes curl up in a ball. I see the terrible news stories, I read and process them.

I am angry - very angry.

Everything is horrible, there's just no way around it. Division and Conflict are daily assaults on our humanity and on our communities.


The stress is warranted. It's natural to feel helpless watching everything unfold, each minute feeling more unsteady than the last. Especially as we shelter in place, which depending on where you are, is the way for a lot of us right now.


For me the best thing for me is to take breaks from the "news". 
I'm not hiding from everything that's happening, but I am trying to not to let it consume me. Friends reach out to me but I do not respond because I don't want to keep re-hashing The drama.

And I can't help think that is really what they reached out for - The drama. We as a society are addicted to it.

I have also had to draw a firm boundary for myself. For all my friends and clients outside of the USA - I am not the receptacle of all The drama that is unfolding in the USA. I am not able to help you process what is happening by being your dumping ground. I am not responsible for every disturbing news story. 

I take my own personal actions where and when I can and other times I put my efforts into supporting others. Other times I do nothing except cry. This is all OK.


What I have been doing every day is going outside and engaging with the world around me. I find the little things in ordinary life to be the most powerful and transformative - they give me strength.

Instead of falling into The drama cycle suggest you try it too.


Go out for the day or for an hour. 
Leave your phone behind.
Unplug.
What will you see?


Today I saw:

• A guy filling up his tank at the gas station and we had a good laugh about nothing.
• The birds twittering in the trees. Blue Jays invaded my balcony in the morning sun as my cats watched on in delight from inside the window.
• People buying groceries at the store.
• Kids in Kayaks playing in the river. 
• PGE workers fixing power lines up the road.
• A deer that was run over 6-8 weeks ago is still at the side of the road where it has been slowly decomposing - creating new life in the eco-system. It's now literally a bag of bones.
• An older couple holding hands as they walk the track near the beach.
• I took my cat out for a walk in our yard and she spent 10 minutes rubbing her whiskers against a straggly old bush.

Tonight My love and I are planning a yummy dinner.


All these little things add up.



These little everyday interactions do wonders for your emotional state.
You feel like you're moving forward - and you are. 


The possibilities to explore and engage with our world are infinite.
The real, actual, world is so much bigger and more beautiful than what you see on your multiple screens.


I'm not suggesting that you be an Ostrich with its head in the sand -  ignoring the state of things, or pretend it's not happening.
I'm definitely not saying you shouldn't care.

What I am suggesting is to look for things that are familiar, things that make your world feel like the world you know. They're out there in abundance.

All those little things allow us to take a deep outward breath and feel stronger.
There is much work to do.