How do we deal with a world that seems to be falling apart?

At times, things seem to get really heavy for us as people and citizens of our country. Not only do we hear about horrible events day in and day out, but on both sides of the political fence, it seems that we are struggling to connect, agree, or even feel like the other “side” is worth connecting with. We are all so sure that we are right in our beliefs that we seem to only notice information that either supports our viewpoints, or information that is absolutely not true that we don’t agree with and are angry or upset about. And while this is typical for the way our brains work, something about the way social media and we as people interact, seems to fuel this disconnect. There is so much to be distressed about and we are often bombarded with this information that it can be difficult to know how to deal with it. With my own heavy heart this week, I thought it might be helpful to write a blog about how we can cope with our world.

Here are some of my ideas but I would love it if people wanted to share their own!

1. Turn it off. Yup, turn it all off sometimes. Yes, we want to be informed citizens but sometimes we should just stop reading about the awfulness. If you are feeling scared and distressed about the way our world treats people or the way we treat each other, definitely turn social media off. And when I say turn it off, I mean, take a break… not go live in a hole and never know what is going on! Being informed is important, but reading every comment on an already upsetting article is overkill.
2. Connect with people. Notice I didn’t say connect just with like-minded people? Connect with the people you love in this world and just spend time outside of talking about the challenges of the day. Laugh, love, and do something you enjoy for a bit to help take care of you. We are all more alike than we are different so it’s important to remember that and find our shared humanity when things feel hard.
3. Find a way to sit and explore what you are feeling, either by yourself or with others. Letting yourself process what is going on and your reaction is so important in understanding the depth of your emotion in response to difficult world events. So this might be journaling, a meditative walk, a long talk with a like-minded friend or person who has similar lived experience as you. Find somewhere or someone safe and allow yourself to feel what you need to. The more you do this, the less likely you are to blow up in anger at someone who most likely doesn’t deserve it.
4. Focus on little things. Find ways to focus on the little things in our world that are going well. Look for the positive both in yourself and others, rather than focusing on how things are all bad or how we are headed in an awful direction.
5. Take action. This is important. If you are feeling passionate about something going on in our world today – find a way to get involved to help and do something about it. Make your voice heard in an effective way, not just by shouting at people online!

I hope that this list is helpful in some small way to some of you. The tension and heaviness in our world right now is real and has been ebbing and flowing as more things are being talked about that are difficult. It’s okay to take care of yourself during these times and during all times!