Enter Stillness
I felt the urge to start blogging again, because so much is happening in the world. I want to take moments to check in, note my experiences, and document them.
In no order, here’s a list of shit that’s happened in the last two+ months:
ICE have been terrorizing non-white people in our cities.
Palestine and Sudan continue to be genocided.
Health care subsidies have been torpedoed, and millions of people are going to lose their insurance.
Artificial Intelligence is the Flavor of the Decade among the Tech Bros and Investment Class. It’s showing up everywhere, and it’s causing major electrical and water usage issues.
And, the Federal government continues on its spree of corruption and dismantling our democracy.
I had a significant birthday.
It’s hard to embrace stillness. Especially in the face of a cultural/media environment that oscillates between stoking outrage for eyeballs and trying to actually, truthfully inform people of what’s going on. I read something the other day about how our news media is now ‘atomized.’ You can find any “news” to support any version of the world you want to exist. It’s exhausting living in such a reality, because nobody can easily agree on what’s true and what’s not.
I’ve realized in the last 6 months especially, that it pisses me off to observe people being duped. I’ll witness folks flocking to this argument or that one, to this system or that one, to this spiritual tradition or that one, this ‘truth teller’ or that one, and so on. I believe that most of us want to feel assured we’re on the right track, and that our lives have meaning. But, so many folks look for that meaning outside of themselves. They’ll dive in full-force to whatever mission/message/group they bond with, and after they get down the road a ways, they realize they got misled. Or, they don’t. Which is sad to me.
I don’t know why these patterns stick out to me, or why they bother me. I’d like my mind to stop going there. I also recognize that it’s not my job to de-dupe anybody.
It’s the dead of Winter now. Holidays are passed. Snow is on the ground. I seek the quiet. I need it. I’m awakening in the wee hours of the morning, my thoughts rolling like a convoy of trucks down the highway. That’s after it’s taken me hours to actually settle down enough to sleep. I tell my mind, ‘Be quiet now. Go to sleep.’ Another truck joins the drive. And, another one. Damn.
Then I remember to contemplate the quiet of this winter season. I focus on the specificity and beauty of ice formations. I wonder at their beauty and the tiny period of time they’ll exist. I remind myself that it’s not my job to fix the whole world. I remind myself that humanity has endured thousands of years of fucking idiotic choices.
I want my life to be about Love In Action. Choosing kindness. Choosing gratitude. Choosing to be still and trusting that my soul is just having a sometimes-bumpy human existence.
“Experience is the hardest kind of teacher. It gives you the test first and the lesson afterward.”
I think the lesson I’m learning is that stillness, the pause, resting while in the in-between phase are powerful necessities to embrace in the face of so much turmoil, drama, and noise.
I wish you stillness, comfort, strength, and clarity going into 2026!
