Finding peace in a chaotic world, may feel impossible, but it’s not. Here we are in the U.S. nearly six months in with this pandemic and longer in other parts of the world. Many of us have experienced layers of loss and stress. I’m listening with an open heart to students, clients, and friends who are struggling with loss, fear, anxiety, overwhelm, sadness, grief, and depression.
The sun is still rising and setting, and the birds are still singing.
How am I finding peace amidst all of the mayhem? In times like these, I make effort to bring my mind back to the foundations of what I practice and teach. Here are some of those things:
- Loss and pain are inevitable. Suffering is optional.
- Everything is impermanent.
- We are not alone. Every one of us who is connected with the reality of our current circumstances is feeling some of the effects of this global loss.
- In spite of all of the struggle in the world, there still are many things that remain right and beautiful.
When we are in danger or we fear that we are in danger, our survival brain is activated. This makes us feel more stressed, more easily overwhelmed, more easily angered, fearful, and distrustful. Our nervous systems become amped up in response to the danger. We may also experience fatigue and foggy thinking. We may begin to lose hope.
Finding Peace with Mindfulness
The good news is that we can regulate and calm our nervous systems and bring our bodies, hearts, and minds back into a greater sense of balance. And we can make our way to finding peace, and even joy, by resting our attention for a few seconds, several times a day, on what remains good and right with us and the world. We do this not in place of being present with the pain but in addition to. We can be most at peace and healthy when we learn how to feel our feelings without trying to escape them and without overindulging them while simultaneously rediscovering glimmers of positive experiences and emotions.
Some of the things that are still good and right with the world as a whole include that the sun is still rising and setting every day. The birds are still singing. Many of us are still alive and well or relatively well. Some of the things that are still good and right with my personal world include that I have really amazing people in my world, and we can mutually depend on each other. I am staying balanced with mindfulness practices and creative projects, and I continue to do work that I love. And I have a super amazing, sweet, and brilliant puppy, Ari Rooh, who just celebrated her first birthday, and we are rocking it with obedience training.
Taking in the Good
Research shows that if we rest our attention for 10-30 seconds several times per day on positive experiences that this can increase happiness and resilience. Every day I make effort to be present with the pain in the world and to be present with the goodness and beauty that remains.
Next week I’m teaching a FREE webinar for the Let’s Reimagine Symposium on Monday, August 31, 2020 from 2:00 – 3:30pm Eastern Time: What Remains: Finding Beauty in a Broken World.
It’s a part of the Let’s Reimagine Symposium on reimagining life, loss, and love. Registration is limited and required. I hope to see you there. Here’s the link to register:
Wishing you glimmers of peace,
Jen
UPCOMING EVENTS:
What Remains: Finding Beauty in a Broken World. FREE
Let’s Reimagine Symposium
This workshop teaches you how to be mentally resilient during difficult times. It explores ways to use mindful awareness and journaling prompts to create balance between being with the loss and brokenness of our world with an open heart and reconnecting with the glimmers of beauty and joy that remain. The intended audience is anyone feeling stress, anxiety, and grief over losses related to any and all of our current difficult global circumstances — pandemic, climate change, political upheaval, racism, homophobia, and the myriad of other forms of suffering.
Ghost Trees II photography exhibit
Stay tuned for details and a link. I’ll have four of the photographs from my new series Ghost Trees II on exhibit at Art in Bloom Gallery. This series explores trees in the Cape Fear River basin that are dying from saltwater intrusion due to climate change. The images in this 2nd Ghost Trees series offer a different visual perspective than the images from the first series. Stay tuned for more information.