Antidotes

I found this left behind at a homeless shelter I worked at. Knowing the girl who left it, I believe she wrote it. Can't be sure. I type it out here because of how much it meant to me then and still holds true.

Collective despair.

We are swimming in it.

Sometimes it feels like too much. We bear witness to so much pain and grief; we touch it intimately and universally, we are pulled into the opposite of hope.

As a child, when there were weeks like the last few our world has endured, I experienced the additional fear and confusion of living in a while where the term "the end times" was bounced around like a sad balloon my parents were dedicated to keep inflated and afloat. It tasted a lot like giving up.

On my own, with only my imagination and tenderstrong heart, I had to develop the antidote to this doomsy view of life in order to survive.

I asked what if these are the beginning of times? What can I do? how can I be? who can I love so that light remains stronger than darkness?

Grace was, and is, my imaginary friend.

Here is some practical advice she has whispered to me over the years:

*Stay curious about individuals. Especially those you disagree with.

*Create on an hourly basis. Better yet, stay in creation mode all the time. Creativity is the opposite of destruction.

*Experience silence. It's the only way to truly rest and make sense of the rest of it. For me, this means news sobriety. Modern news is the loud, incessant and distorted cheap boombox backbeat for collective despair. If you feel you must maintain some connection to the overwhelming happenings, find a quality source of information you trust and take little sips, no more than once a day. I haven't listened to the news for months. It took several years to wean myself from this destructive addiction.

*Love. Especially children and other tender souls.

*Each moment, make conscious decisions and take action to create the world you want to live in. In a million tiny ways, we can be the world we want our children to flourish in.

*Listen to good music that touches and inspires you.

*Laugh. A lot. Play. Without shame.

Let's live in the beginning of times.

peace, love and light - Tori