This is so good. Everything you wrote lands with how I'm feeling. My life remains relatively calm, but my heart hurts for Minnesotans. It was home for most of my life. Anger wells up again and again. I read piece after piece offering stress solutions that feel like bandaids.
I love how you connected the winter coldness - Mother Nature's role in all this. I, too, read the bullet list you mentioned. It always come back to kindness. Connections with others matter even more during difficult times.
We can't look away. It is our duty to look, to witness. Thank you for this beautiful piece. x
Thanks for your comment, Nancy. That type of connection here helps me feel less alone with this frightful experience. I'm sorry for your beloved Minnesota. We will hang on together through it❤️
Some people are sympathetic to others suffering, others are empathetic. It's the empathetic people who need to be aware of the amount of others pain and suffering that they take on. Not sure if it's a gift or a curse to literally feel others pain and take it on as our own, but it is definitely a balancing act.
It's taken me a while to consider this and respond. I won't go into the depths of how I deal with this; sometimes just talking about my path sounds like selling it, which i don't want to do.
Among all the good people i encounter, there are... others. When I walk my dog, I see how those people do not pick up after their dogs. So I pick up whatever dog shit we encounter. And then I pet the nice dogs we meet.
That's a good secret to share. We have those dog walkers too. At least they walk their dogs. That's the best I can come up with for them. They're lucky to have you around ❤️
Hi Trevy,
This is so good. Everything you wrote lands with how I'm feeling. My life remains relatively calm, but my heart hurts for Minnesotans. It was home for most of my life. Anger wells up again and again. I read piece after piece offering stress solutions that feel like bandaids.
I love how you connected the winter coldness - Mother Nature's role in all this. I, too, read the bullet list you mentioned. It always come back to kindness. Connections with others matter even more during difficult times.
We can't look away. It is our duty to look, to witness. Thank you for this beautiful piece. x
Thanks for your comment, Nancy. That type of connection here helps me feel less alone with this frightful experience. I'm sorry for your beloved Minnesota. We will hang on together through it❤️
Some people are sympathetic to others suffering, others are empathetic. It's the empathetic people who need to be aware of the amount of others pain and suffering that they take on. Not sure if it's a gift or a curse to literally feel others pain and take it on as our own, but it is definitely a balancing act.
Thanks, Helen. This is an excellent distinction. I'm not sure what you call the ones who do neither but we don't want to talk about them anyway!
We will indeed. Solidarity. x
It's taken me a while to consider this and respond. I won't go into the depths of how I deal with this; sometimes just talking about my path sounds like selling it, which i don't want to do.
Among all the good people i encounter, there are... others. When I walk my dog, I see how those people do not pick up after their dogs. So I pick up whatever dog shit we encounter. And then I pet the nice dogs we meet.
That's the big secret some days.
That's a good secret to share. We have those dog walkers too. At least they walk their dogs. That's the best I can come up with for them. They're lucky to have you around ❤️