Happy Friday! The days are getting longer; it's starting to feel like spring here, and my body feels like it's waking up.
At the same time, these are truly strange and worrisome times in the US—and around the world—and my body often also feels full of anxiety. It's very hard to see the extent of the greed, stupidity, and destruction that's occurring.
I often feel both scared and angry. But I find myself coming back again and again to what I know—and that has to do with story, narrative, healing, and the relationship between mind and body.
What I know is that some things are in our control and others aren't, and it's at that intersection of what we have agency over and what we don't have agency over that our humanness resides; that is where our stories reside, and also where our authority resides.
I led a bonus session inside my Align Collective community earlier this week about responding to these times, and I want to share just a few resources from that with you:
*First: We can't control the world, but we do have agency over our own narrative of what matters, what has meaning, and the larger context.
Recognizing that we can't control everything is one way to come into a larger perspective and greater peace. It's not our job as humans to control the world, but it is our job to make meaning and to choose, amid the conditions that we don't have control over, how we want to respond. (If you think of plot, by the way, that is usually how plot is constructed: by having characters navigate circumstances that both are and are not out of their control.)
As serious as what's happening in the social/ political world is, we can't let it overwhelm our awareness of all the other centers of meaning: our connection to one another, spirit, the earth, and more.
For this reason, I find it helpful to be very selective about how and when I take in the news. One of the tactics of the authoritarian is to keep others in perpetual fear and uncertainty—from that place of fear, we're more likely to panic, turn against each other, or simply give up. I want to be able to stay present, live in my body, and see the big picture. I try to keep my own historic, social, personal and spiritual world views front and center.
**Second: while it's important to realize that much is out of our control, and while I know that I can take control over my own larger narrative, I know I can also take some direct political and social action.
These are not normal times, and I want to respond. It's important to me that I use my voice. I try to make my little difference, and I feel better taking action; it's a win-win.
I'm inspired by Frances Moore Lappé when she says:
"Hope is not what we find in evidence; it's what we become in action."
I've been setting aside 45-60 minutes every other day to take some political action. I find it helpful to schedule these activism times on my calendar—just as I encourage people to set aside time for writing. This allows me to think about the political/ social situation at some times and not think about it at others. I encourage you to try setting aside some dedicated time each week! (If you'd like resources for how to be involved, send me an email at nadia@nadiacolburn.com, and I can send you some resources!)
***Third: I know that to show up fully as an adult, I need to do the inner work of healing.
Yes, absolutely, these times are in and of themselves alarming (not just in the US but around the world—we find ourselves in an ongoing crisis of climate, democracy, technology, inequality, etc.). But I know that sometimes I find these times particularly alarming because they trigger older traumas and feelings of disempowerment in me, and I'll be more effective, more present, and more of a help if I'm not as triggered.
And so these times call on us to also process our own story, not only to be forward-looking or even focus on the present, but to see what, in the present, is calling us back to the past to be healed. Maybe what we need to do is simply take some time to feel, to grieve, to hold ourselves.
I think of the bodhisattvas, who are awake, unafraid, and full of love, whatever is around them. The only way to be like that is to do that inner work of practice and healing. Writing and understanding our own story helps with this!
Here's a Prompt:
If you find yourself being triggered, I invite you, instead of racing ahead in your mind to the awful things that might happen, to ask yourself to stay present with what you're feeling. Is a previous experience of fear or disempowerment being recalled for you? Then go back: Can you offer your younger self some compassion, healing, and physical and emotional support?
How does healing the past protect us against authoritarianism, you might ask? We need to remain calm, strong, and clear-sighted in the face of what is happening. And we can only do that if we heal ourselves. I know that when I do this inner work, I'm more able to be present and a support to myself and to others.
Let me know how you're doing! Leave a comment below or send me an email at nadia@nadiacolburn.com.
with love and trust,
Nadia