I don't know about you, but I sometimes feel as though I'm going to lose my mind. The constant noise of the news and headlines from both near and afar gets to feel like too much. And it can make a person feel a bit crazy at times...and stressed. Wondering if there is still goodness, and light, and hope out there. If there is something still worth fighting for. Maybe you feel that way too at times. Certainly the last few months and years have felt that way...the noise has gotten louder, the headlines grimmer, and the news from lands near and far heavy.
I do not believe we were created, designed, or meant to take it all in. There has to be a stopping point, a boundary, a hedge, that we all must put into place for the protection of our own peace and mental and emotional steadiness. It can be hard, though, when you are a person who feels things deeper than others or when your heart breaks at the slightest bit of disheartening news, even if it seems insignificant to most. You want to fix the world and make it all better. But you simply can't...I know how all of this feels. I'm a feeler, through and through. It can all feel a bit much for me a lot of the time and even hinders me from doing things I love and enjoy, such as sharing here on my little corner of the crazy online world. I take in whatever I see, read, or notice and it grows roots and firmly plants itself in my mind and heart, and there it stays. I have learned over the years that those hedges must be put in place. Therefore, I rarely look at world news. Yes, I know the general gist of what's going on, as one should, I believe, but I don't need to know minute-by minute, day-by-day events. I am very conscious and contentious of what I allow on my social media feed. As I've mentioned before, I only use Instagram and watch YouTube occasionally, but I am very, very picky about who I follow/watch....every single voice we allow to speak into us is an influence, no matter how small or minute...even those on social media. And we must be vigilant and wise about who we allow into our circle of influence.
We live in a day and age where the noise is constant. The online world literally never sleeps. And not only does it never sleep, but it's also always on max. There is absolutely no care for humans and the peace and mental and emotional wellness of people from those in power and control. Fear, anxiety, stress, depression, desperation, etc. is their goal and they're quite successful at it, I might add. I think we sometimes forget that life wasn't always like this...people didn't have 24/7 access to the entire world and it's goings on and happenings. It's a rather new way of living, just in the last couple decades. I'm old enough to remember a world without constant access to the internet, and definitely a world where people didn't carry that 24/7 access in their back pocket.
I want to share something that I have personally found encouraging and comforting in such unsettling times...in times of political turmoil, war and violence, acts of evil, and people in authority who crave power and control. For someone who feels everything in a deep way, this has brought sanity and comfort and common sense back into my mind and heart as I often deal with and struggle with anxiety and stress. And that is this...
There is nothing new under the sun.
I only have to think back to the last three generations in my family for this to become clear. My great-grandfather left a communist country with his brothers as a young man, traveling by train and boat for many days, in harsh conditions, all in search of a better life for himself and those who would come after him. His journey was such a tremendous one that when he finally got off the boat on Ellis Island, he knelt down and kissed the ground, thankful to have safely arrived on American soil. My grandpa was a young boy when the Great Depression hit and he had to go live with his aunt and uncle on a farm, so that his father could find work and be able to support his two young sons as a widower. As a young adult, he served our country in World War II and made it back home safe and sound. My own parents' childhoods through young adult years were in the 60s-70s, when everything moral was thrown out the window and things were nuts. Political turmoil, lack of morals and decency on the rise, and the entire family foundation rocked and shaken by newfound ideals. All of them lived through horrible political leaders, wars, recessions and money troubles, political upheaval, acts of violence in the news, and so on. And yet...here I am. Three generations later, the same things happening, just a new date attached to the events.
There is nothing new under the sun. There are times of peace and times of unrest. There are good leaders and evil ones. There are those that want war and those that desire peace. There are years of penny-pinching and wondering when the price of gas will go down, and years of more comfortable financial security. Life ebbs and flows...it always has and it always will. The earth continues to turn, and the seasons continue to shift. The sun rises each morning and sets each evening...just as it always has, just as it always will.
I am very disturbed by people who irrationally try to stir up anxiety and stress and such by declaring "it's the end of the world" and that things have never been this bad. Some people genuinely get a thrill out of seeing people stirred up and anxious, and to them, I say shame on you. Some people are genuinely ignorant and foolish, and there is honestly no use in trying to talk sense into stupidity. I'm not saying that things aren't going on in the world or that things are all grand and wonderful, but it's time to stop and realize that things have gone on before and they will continue to go on. Look back at your own family and see what previous generations have lived through...there is nothing new under the sun.
Let us take comfort in that, keep calm, and cultivate a quiet life, focusing on tending to our own little corners of the world well, and loving those around us. I think that's a much better use of our time than worrying, being anxious or getting all worked up by the headlines and news. Your peace is up to you...you can either cultivate it and water it and watch it grow...and then protect it at all costs, or you can destroy it by allowing any old voice to speak into your mind and cause turmoil in your heart, mind and soul. The choice is yours. And I've learned over the years that it is sometimes a choice to be made daily. Put up those hedges, be mindful of who and what influences you, and realize that there is still goodness, light, beauty, truth, and hope in this world. There is still something worth fighting for, and fight for it, we must.
I would love to share more of my ramblings on a simple, rooted, quiet life, which I believe is the antidote to the times in which we live, and I do hope to more. But I would love your feedback and input, so I'm going to kindly ask you to take a few minutes to fill out a brief survey about such things. This is simply to help me decide what to share about and in what order and if you'd like to read about such things as much as I enjoy writing about them, and if your heart is in those things as much as mine is. I always get so inspired when you all share your ideas and thoughts with me in the surveys I put up...so thank you very much for taking the time to share with me. It really inspires my heart to know that I'm not the only one out there who has a heart for these dear things...this is how I was raised and it's rooted deep and firm in my soul.
Bless you, dear reader. And take heart...
there is goodness still out there.
May we notice it, may we cultivate it,
may we protect it and fight for it,
and may we simply be goodness itself.