We have to be willing to do the sometimes scary or unsettling work of nothing.
On finding peace when the world is on fire.
It's a wintery winter here in Cleveland.
Freezing temps and daily snowflakes.
I'm a summer girl…the Leo in me craves the sunshine.
But I relish in the slowness of winter.
The constant reminder and permission that rest is vital.
The quiet that's amplified by the powdery white frosting covering the earth.
The eery but at the same time comforting disappearance of neighbors except for the die-hard daily dog walkers.
It's astounding to me how parts of the world and things that are happening politically can be so chaotic and disarming and loud and at the same time, when I look out my window or step out my door, everything is silent and unmoving.
Nature reminds us that we need to plug into peace.
That we need to use our “off” switch from time to time.
That while perhaps counterintuitive, powering down and sinking into the tundra is essential to our survival.
Yes, taking action and being visible are essential to our existence as humans too—
But the constant go, the constant fight, the constant noise is not a sustainable option for most.
I feel untethered at times…
Lost, confused, and anxious.
I feel grief and loss and fear.
I feel rage and judgement too.
But I have been working to choose
Quiet
Peace
Love
Connection
Reflection
Presence
Joy
Light
Community
Rest
As much as I can muster.
Because without access to these gifts, I can't really be myself.
Without making these aspects of life a priority, I can't really be in the world fully.
It's not easy to plug into peace when the world is on fire.
We can feel ashamed, guilty, or irresponsible.
But without connecting to love, grounding, and faith, I have no chance at making a difference here.
Without offering myself nurturing, sacred moments, I will not flourish and thrive.
And that's part of what I'm here to do.
That's part of what you're here to do too.
When we're in our magic, we create healing all around us.
So how can we find find our way to magic when we’re tirelessly treading water, frantically in search of a lifeboat?
The first part of that answer is knowing that it’s going to be different for each of us. Our way to rest, rejuvenation, and rebirth isn’t a straight shot. It’s not applicable across the board.
But for a moment, I invite you to take a breath and imagine yourself among choppy waves…panting, heart racing, and limbs circling. Feel the effort, feel the exhaustion. How long will you be able to sustain this rotation of treading and swimming with broad strokes? If you’re to survive until a boat comes or you make your way to dry land… what do you need to be willing to do?
Float.
We must surrender to the tide.
Let the current take us.
Lean back, open up, and let go.
We have to be willing to do the sometimes scary or unsettling work of nothing.
To allow our bodies to synchronize with the buoyancy of each wave.
To open our eyes to the expansive sky above… noticing the clouds and the stars overhead.
To hear the gentle murmur of water as your ears bob just below and then just above the surface of the water.
We must feel in our breath, the waves of the sea.
The beating of our hearts, the pulse of the earth.
Our doing & our activity, the leaves in the forest.
To see fractals and to be them. To replicate and embody the repeating patterns found in nature.
Adrienne Maree Brown, author of Emergent Strategy describes,
A fractal is a never-ending pattern. Fractals are infinitely complex patterns that are self-similar across different scales… Tune into the prevalence of spiral in the universe— the shape in the prints of our fingertips echoes into geological patterns, all the way to the shape of galaxies… The patterns of the Universe repeat at scale.
To find our way to magic, we must do the simple and the impossible. To allow the culture and conditioning of urgency, victimhood, capitalism, patriarchy, and hustle to fall away from us layer by layer.
Shedding each compulsion like an article of clothing, letting them drown in the waters beneath us while we float atop the surface, naked under the glittering sun.
It is in this honest, exposed state of being… this moment in time where we’ve dropped everything— the whir of frantic activity wearing the costume of a hero— that we begin to make ourselves available for the magic of peace.
It is in this remembrance of the ever-changing seasons and tides within us and around us…
In the handing off of the surface level comforts of faux control that we allow the path to come home to ourselves and to our purpose and our place here on Earth to open up and draw us in.