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| One of this week's walks... |
This past week was difficult for many of us as we tried to process the cold-blooded murder of Renee Nicole Good, an American citizen who was exercising her lawful and constitutional right to protest against ICE, peacefully, in the streets of Minneapolis on Wednesday.
When I woke up on Wednesday morning, my first thought was:
"I wish there would be some good news today...
for a change."
Then I poured myself a cup of good strong coffee, and I turned on the news. The rest is history...and it always will be.
I was trying to process that tragedy when my phone rang. It was my cousin calling to tell me she had been diagnosed with breast cancer over the holidays. Her mastectomy was scheduled for the next day.
Then, my brother called to say that his wife was on the way to the ED for evaluation of some neurological symptoms that have persisted since she suffered a minor concussion a few weeks ago. Her doctors wanted to rule out a stroke or a slow bleed.
Next in line was my daughter calling because she was worried about her great big gorgeous Great Dane. He wasn't eating. He was unusually clingy. He was also having tremors. He appeared to be in pain, but the vet couldn't fit him in that day. They'd been through something like this before...when her last Dane developed bone cancer...so that was worrisome.
Then we got the news about the couple in Portland, Oregon who were shot by federal agents during a traffic stop.
This is hard. It's hard to process the violence, pain, suffering, injustice, and heartache that seem to have become predictable themes in our collective experience, and as well, in our personal lives. We feel a combination of disbelief, grief, anger, and worst of all, despair. It can stop us in our tracks.
My question for you is this: What do you do when things get to be just too much? What do you do to take care of yourself at times like these? To calm yourself. To strengthen yourself. To catch a glimmer of hope, or joy, or peace.
I walk. It's a five-mile round trip that takes me out into the woods and along a little stream. This week, thankfully, the weather cooperated. The skies cleared, and the sun came out with unseasonable warmth. Even the wind quieted down. Twelve deer greeted me along the way. People waved hello.
It helped.
I hope you can tap into your own wellspring of beauty, wonder, peace, and possibility. A moment of joy. A reason for hope.
Remember:
"Not everything that is faced
can be changed,
but nothing can be changed
until it is faced."
~James Baldwin~
jan
