016: We All Know What Day It Is
This isn't a political email, I promise
Woof, it’s hard to write an article knowing that it has to go out on the day of one of the most contentious elections in recent history. Many of us are frustrated, and scared, and worried. So, this email is not about that, because I know every single one of you is receiving hundreds and texts and emails and calls about voting and who to vote for. You don’t need one more.
In moments like this, when I’m scared and uncertain, I like to make lists. I make lists of things I need to do, things I need to remember, things that I see, ways that I feel. I list out what I’m grateful for, who I love, why I’m continuing on.
Sometimes, if I think it’ll help, I list why I’m scared, why I’m hurting. I don’t do that as much, but it also helps me to see that the list is finite. It’s only overwhelming until I can see that the list is only a few inches long. And how unconquerable can things be if they fit on a piece of paper?
So here’s a list of a few very specific feelings, and how to react to them, to get me through.
A List of Very Specific Feelings And How to React To Them, volume 3.
The Feeling: The anticipatory clench in your stomach as you dip a finger or toe into the bathtub to check the temperature.
How to React: Smile a little. Find the middle of the tub, the spot with the highest concentration of bubbles or bath bomb, and dunk your whole hand (or foot) in. Why not? Why not just got for it?
The Feeling: The swollen, trapped, sticky filling of your lungs, and the way the air around you seems to go still in that moment after sending a risky text.
How to React: Pause. Let the breath out. Move any muscle, just one. And then remind yourself that taking a risk, leaping out into thin air, no matter the result, is so beautifully human. One of the things that make people so endlessly fascinating is our capacity to take risks, to try new things, to reach out once more into the unknown and hope for the best. Try to let go of expectations for what comes next, even just for a second, and just appreciate that you took the risk at all.
The Feeling: The unfamiliar icy stillness of the first cold morning each autumn. The momentary confusion as you draw the sheets in tighter, curl up a little smaller, and wonder what exactly is going on before you fully wake up.
How to React: Stay in bed a few minutes late. Cuddle a pet or a partner if you have one. When you do finally get up, reach for a hot beverage first, peek outside, then get ready as normal. Set a pair of your warmest socks by the bed for tomorrow morning.
Send me a list today. A list of anything; Stuff you want to get off your chest, stuff you’re thinking, stuff you’re excited about. Or post it online and tag me in it. I can’t wait to read it.
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Thinking of you all today.
xx,
Valorie
Image by TerriAnneAllen.