chaos and calamity
How do you write about an election that doesn’t even have results yet, in a world where chaos and calamity reign over the land in an increasingly divided nation?
You don’t. You channel that energy into something more productive, like baking cookies or meditating.
Last night, at around 8 p.m. EST, I participated in a soundbath meditation session (over Zoom). For one hour, I felt like I had transcended into another dimension, floating on a cloud. I felt peace. I felt something I hadn’t felt in a long time, and it was a welcome reprieve.
Before the session? I could feel my anxiety creeping back up on me. I (virtually) met with my therapist in the morning, who said I wasn’t alone in feeling the way I was.
After the session? I made the executive decision to not pay attention to social media the rest of the night, because I didn’t want to ruin the calm, collected feeling that had come over me.
If I were working in a newsroom, I would not have been able to do that. I’ve taken the past month or so to step back from the harsh realities of working in a newsroom. I’ve found myself less drained, less stressed, less focused on the mundane.
I also missed being in a newsroom setting on what appears to be the most important election of my lifetime. You can take the gal out of media, but you can’t take the media out of the gal.
So. There’s chaos and calamity happening across the nation as I type this out, on a gorgeous Wednesday afternoon following the election. The world seems gloomy and grey, even though the sun is shining with a gentle fall warmth filling the air.
One might even ask, “But Meghin, how can you still be focused on the good things in the world, when everything seems so bleak?”
Easy. I believe that there are still good things afoot in the world and that no good deed goes unrecognized. In a time where there’s so much static and noise, it becomes easy to overlook the small things in life.
I’m the type of person who puts others before I put myself, because I have a heart of gold. I’m an empath. I care about others, which seems like a rarity these days. I’m slowly learning to put myself first and it hasn’t been an easy journey. There will always be people who need support more than I do.
In learning how to put myself first, I’ve taken more time for gratitude when it comes to the small things in life. I’m appreciating the world as its meant to be appreciated, while trying not to focus solely on the gloom and doom that haunts us all.
The news is still filled with lots of uncertainty. My Twitter feed has been an absolutely toxic mess. There’s a leader in the White House who seems hellbent on not admitting defeat; who has gained a following of extremely terrifying militias, white supremacists and people determined to undo the progress the nation has gone through, long before the current administration took office.
And when I think about that, I am afraid. I am afraid for the future. I am afraid for what lies ahead as election officials continue to wade through the muck and mess. I am afraid of the militias that could come through with great force.
When I think about the future, I think about the children some of my friends have now. I think about my boyfriend’s nephew. I think about how these children are growing up in a world of uncertainty with a positive outlook, because they’re children who haven’t been beaten down and battered with a barrage of current events. I think about how hopeful I am to see them grow up and rise to do powerful, great things. I think about their parents and their families, who are trying to instill good values in them, while figuring out how to teach the hard lessons.
At times, I wish I still had the nativity and wonder of a child. It seems like an easy out to not think about the chaos and calamity surrounding us.
I think about the group of young people known as “Gen Z,” who have done more advocacy work; who have tried to shed light on current events in a way that I’ve never seen millennials try to do. They’ve figured out how to mobilize in numbers to try and spread a good message, or spread a message about how things can and should change. They still have some shred of optimism left in them.
And in a sense, I do too.
We live in a world that will always be filled with noise that’s loud enough to disrupt our daily thoughts. We live in a world where there are 24/7 news outlets; the harbingers of the sea of bad news that we seem to be drowning in. We live in a world where something is deemed “fake news” if it goes against your beliefs. We live in a world where people are spoon-fed what they should think, because it’s easier to live that way instead of taking the road less traveled to find information on their own.
If there aren’t people with some hope and optimism left in them, how will we pave a way forward out of this mess? It’s hard to say.