Hey, y’all. 

Is everyone okay? No? 

Okay, good. Not good because you’re not okay, but good because now I know I’m not alone. I’m the queen of optimism, even when things are completely abysmal, and even I’m having a hard time focusing right now.

Everything feels anxious right now. It feels like the world is on fire and not the kind you can just douse with water, but the raging wildfire type where they literally use fire to fight fire. Some days, it’s like the walls are closing in on us, and we’re all stuck in some elaborate puzzle we’re unprepared for. We’re in a state of pop quizzes where every wrong answer costs you a little sanity.

People are in an endless state of fight, flight, or freeze. Some are revved up and fueled with “fight the power” and “fight the system” energy. Others are running from the world, finding ways to soothe themselves, maybe by totally ignoring everything or just pulling the covers over their heads and peeking out periodically to see if it’s safe. I don’t blame them.

Some folks are literally frozen in a state of shock. Practically catatonic from information and sensationalization overload. And me? Well, it depends on the day you ask me. I’m sure we all float in and out of all three of these states depending on what’s happening in our own lives.

I think a lot of us are exhausted. Not just physically exhausted, but mentally, cognitively, emotionally, and spiritually spent. We’re not just at zero; we’re in the negatives. And this is causing folks to spiral. Simply put, we only have so much to give. While we see and care about the news, the headlines, and the stories, we still have to take care of ourselves and our families.

We have to tend to the things in our day-to-day lives. We don’t always have the capacity to address these bigger concerns, even though they’re important, because some folks are just trying to survive another day. Get a full night’s sleep, make sure their kids do their homework, check on Mom who hasn’t been feeling well, call a grieving friend, support a colleague who’s lost a job or, you know, pluck those chin hairs that keep appearing. Just me? Oh, okay!

But seriously, it’s like an endless string of chaos with no real solutions, yet there’s an expectation of emotional investment at every turn. I say it’s time to woosah like we’ve never woosah’d before. Because, honeychild, this world will run you into the ground if you let it.

One thing I’ve been practicing is small habits of predictability. It’s a way to self-soothe and incorporate something into my day that I can expect. For example, I’ve been incrementally re-watching the series Living Single (it’s on Hulu, by the way). Each evening, I watch a few episodes. It grounds me. I look forward to it, and it gives me an anchor point. I try to stay off my phone during that time. Most of the episodes I’ve seen before, so there aren’t a lot of twists and turns, and that’s extremely comforting to me.

I do the same thing with movies I loved back in the day. Watching them over and over to ground myself. It helps me calm down, regulate my nervous system, and just have some quiet time. Now, some people can do this without a show. Maybe it’s music for you. Maybe it’s the sound of crashing waves (there are endless soundscapes on YouTube).

Maybe it’s just sitting in stillness. We have to find ways to cocoon ourselves, to bring ourselves back to ourselves so we can get up the next day and do the next right thing, whatever that might be for our particular lives. Because everyone’s situation is so different.

I’m also finding comfort in brainstorming ways to return to my childlike creativity and curiosity.

I’m an artist first. That’s right. Before I was a brand builder, a storyteller, or a fancy VP, I was a kid who could sketch and draw and color for hours. That brought me a lot of joy, and I’m thinking about how to weave those simple pleasures back into my life.

Life seems so big, overwhelming, and insidious right now. We can only tackle so many things at once, so we’ve got to find little reserves along the way. I know everyone’s life is different. Everyone doesn’t have a quiet space or a quiet home. But I implore everyone to find even a small quiet moment. Maybe it’s in the bathroom stall at work, maybe it’s that random night when you have the house to yourself, or maybe it’s just those few quiet moments in your car in the garage before you walk inside. I’ve been there, done that.

Find these spaces where you can settle yourself. Find out what speaks to you. Keep creating, keep shining, keep doing, keep wandering. Wander physically. Wander mentally in your imagination. Wander wherever you can. Grab ideas, magic and happy things before you return. Get lost, then find your way back home. It’s that little room with the light on. Warm, cozy, with your favorite scent floating and must-have snacks. It demands nothing of you except that you show up.