Hello wonderful reader
I had every intention today to share some stories and photos from our recent retreat, but the current global ruckus calls me to write about resilience and self-care in times of external uncertainty.
Regardless of your thoughts about what happened in the states yesterday, elections almost always leave groups of people feeling helpless and out of control. It’s a strange feeling when politics veer away from what you’d like to see. It’s natural to want to find something or someone or some system to blame.
Brené Brown calls this ‘bouncing hurt’. We tend to gather up our emotions into a metaphorical ball and throw them about the place. And before too long we’re all throwing our emotions around, trying to find a way out of the fear. We feel saddened and upset and want to find something to take the pain away from us.
What I’ve learnt over the past couple of years, where big external things have panned out differently to what I hoped, is that the most helpful action for me and those around me is to bring my focus back to myself – back to the only thing I can really take charge of.
I don’t say that to mean I only care about me, and ‘to hell with the world, I’ll just worry about myself’. No, I mean if I pour energy and care and love into myself then I will be in a much better position to find answers to the challenges I imagine we might face in the future.
When I get angry and outraged and start bouncing my hurt around I ironically end up becoming what I see in some of the political figures I worry about.
So now it’s about turning off the news and connecting to music, images, conversations that fill me with hope and love. Now it’s about self-care, candles, movement and cups of tea. Now it’s about finding new and hopeful perspectives about the future.
A world filled with individuals who love and care for themselves, makes for a hopeful world that can deal with anything and find answers to the greatest of challenges.
Sending love (plus plus plus) as always, Hannah
*Image by Olia Gozha