The state of the country I call home is a shitshow. For those of you offended by curse words, there is simply no other word to use to describe the daily madness that is happening in the United States. There are so many daily assaults on the pillars of democracy, the rights of people, and the foundations of common sense that you can’t take it all in. Calling Congressional and State representatives, signing petitions, showing up to protests, sending emails, etc could easily consume one’s life and yet that pace is not sustainable for the next four years. This is unfortunately a marathon and not a sprint. Our bodies are amazing and adaptable, but they aren’t designed to live on red alert threat level for an extended period of time. Doing so can cause your body to get stuck in fight or flight and cause a whole host of issues with your nervous system. Trust me, 2 1/2 years later and I’m still trying to turn off the fight-flight switch that Covid and exposure to toxic mold turned on in my body

I have learned through my journey that you have to do what you can.. when you can. I am full of passion, ideas, and drive, but I also have a body that can’t live life at 100 miles an hour. I’ve tried and it hasn’t ended well for me. I’ve tried to live life as if nothing has changed and I have the same capacity I did when I wasn’t sick. News flash: I’m sick and my capacity is nowhere near what it was when I was healthy. It just isn’t and as hard as that has been to learn, I am slowly starting to accept that it is what it is. I have a body that needs peace, solitude, and ease and I have to honor that even though my spirit wants to be on a street corner screaming at the top of my lungs each day. I am learning that there are still many things I can do and ways that I can show up, but my capacity is different each day and that’s ok. I am learning how to support, be engaged, and be involved in the ways that I can while also giving my body the critical things it needs. There are times it’s hard to be on the sidelines, but I know that sometimes the sidelines is where I need to be.

Regardless if you have chronic illness you are dealing with or not, to get through these next four years you absolutely have to take into consideration your capacity and understand that your capacity will be ebb and flow. It may ebb and flow daily and that’s ok. There may be a string of days where you can devote your whole day to engaging and being active and then there are going to be other days where your body is tired and you need to tap out. Allow yourself to tap out and know that when you tap out, others are tapping in. Do what you can..when you can. Don’t beat yourself up for the days, weeks, or months when you can’t give as much as you would like to give. Allow yourself to still live and find joy in the midst of this never ending state of being that I label “What In The Actual Fuck?” It seems to be the most appropriate label for this time in the world.

Take time to find your islands of peace. The places, people, practices, things you can go to that bring you peace. Whatever your islands of peace are whether that’s meditation, binge watching a funny show, eating a container of ice cream, getting lost in a book, hanging out with your village, going to live in a remote place where you can’t access any news. etc it doesn’t matter as long as you have islands of peace. If you haven’t created islands of peace for yourself, put that on your to-do list. Also put on your to do list a weekly off the grid time. During off the grid time you turn off your phone, you don’t check email, social media, and you certainly don’t watch any news. This time is set aside for you to get away from the noise of the world, which these days the noise is quite loud, and connect with yourself and/or your islands of peace. I assure you that taking a couple hours or even a whole day away from your phone and social media will in fact not result in your death or the death of anyone else. The world will keep turning and the cat memes will keep being shared.

Know that your peace, your joy, and your humanness don’t come from the world. They come from inside you and you are always held by them. Regardless of what’s happening around you, you can always come back to the peace, joy, and human spirit of authenticity that resides within each of us. Yes, I realize that it sounds ridiculous to talk about finding peace when it feels like the world is burning around us, but I would argue that finding and holding onto our own peace, joy, and humanness in spite of the fire around us is the ultimate act of resistance.

There is a famous quote by Toi Derricotte that says, “Joy is an act of resistance” and I couldn’t agree more. So resist by finding, spreading, and experiencing joy. Resist by finding, spreading, and experiencing peace. Resist by embracing and celebrating your humanness. Resist by honoring your body, mind, and soul and doing what you can.. when you can. And finally, resist by cursing your way through the day. In my own personal experience, it helps greatly.