Maybe your Facebook news feed has only family members and friends, mine is full of political ads. Maybe you have fine tuned that algorithm so well that you only see the fluffy cows, goofy dogs and D&D clips, mine has been infused with touches of radical issues that I wish I could change. I am aware of how many things are wrong in the world. People are wrongly detained, women are treated as second class or worse, and the presence of children in public places is often downright criminalized.
For me however, life goes beyond these issues. I am struggling with the government shutdown financially as we prep for a non-refundable two-day drive to visit family we haven’t seen in years (my youngest hasn’t even met my dad, siblings or grandparents yet). I am battling the most quality of life limiting health issues I have ever had along with stress. And to top it all off the home we thought we were moving onto is not possible anymore, so our little family is facing our first South Dakota winter in a lovely but crowded and noisy apartment. So I say this, with all of the love, sympathy and mold-breaking desire to make changes in the world, how am I supposed to handle this all?
The truth is, we aren’t meant to handle all of this. We aren’t meant to watch short 1 minute or less clips that show violence and devastating news stories, then swipe to the fluffy cows we wish to own, then an add for mental health that reminds us we aren’t really okay, and then swipe for more dopamine seeking something new over and over again. It isn’t healthy to view snippets of life. Even if I find inspiration from an amazing hiker, or someone who showed a sped up deep clean of their child decorated home, I still will get stuck feeling like there is more to see and more that I want to know.
The other day, I mixed some soil and amendments for it and potted the last of the house plants a dear friend sent to me. I then cleaned our little apartment balcony, scrubbed the bird poop from their old roosting spot, and then spent at least thirty minutes pruning every dead flower from my chrysanthemums that we bought from Walmart. The only reason they were dead was the neglect to water so hopefully we get another round of blooms from the remaining buds before winter. Anyway, I cannot tell you how amazing it felt to have my hands in the soil again. To smell the earth and transplant the tiny roots that have been living in mason jars and small Pyrex bowls for two months now lifted my spirits. I felt spoiled because my husband was able to protect my peace during that time so that I could get the project done. It was so necessary and so important. The only thing my phone supplied was ratios for perlite and peatmoss, and my autumn jazz playlist on Spotify.
I wonder how different things would be if we all could stick our hands in the soil, spend more time baking or hiking or riding dirtbikes or just being a whole person outside of the electronic world. Would we see politics as something to spend time learning about, sitting in to hear what is going on, and then taking stands on what we believe in right there in front of the powers we argue against? What if our balance wasn’t work, family, and opinions based off of influencers or the snippets we gather, but rather a balance of work, family and community. This means taking part in community meetings regarding schools, laws and smaller governmental issues. Being in the know firsthand and not word of mouth. How much more equipped would we be when things fall apart? If my life was more balanced and involved in local government how much more would I have been prepared and understood the changes about to happen with our military income?
I know that I am taking some rabbit trails here but hear me out. My life is always Everchanging, yet it seems like our family is always struggling with something in the way of housing, medical, and lately financial. Now you add in the constant influx of information on why the world has gone to hell in a handbasket, who to blame, how to feel about it. Well of course we are all miserable and feeling alone and worried and uncertain. I am downright stressed. When things are like this I tend to spend more time on farming simulator or ordering in and not sleeping well. But it should be the opposite.
I hope you will try this with me. I hope you will all do something that you love to do today. Maybe that is farming simulator for you. Maybe it is trying that recipe you’ve had saved for awhile and keep thinking of making. Maybe it is taking a walk. Whatever it is, do it. If you’re tired do as much as you can. If you’re scared call a friend or play an old song to accompany you. Let’s just try to do something that feeds into our hearts and minds. Something that produces love and good fruit in your soul. The politics can wait a day while you reset yourself. The world can wait a day while you heal the immediate hurt in your home, life, habits or even family.
It’s not what I wanted to happen, my current life situation, but it is where I am and I need to just reset the starting line. I hope you can find peace today.
Blessings,
Mel