Lately I have been catching myself from time to time thinking about the final scenes of the film Don’t Look Up. Have you seen it? The scientific warnings have been ignored, the political posturing has failed, and the comet is right there filling up the sky. There is no time left. The people are sitting around a dinner table together. They laughing and enjoying their meal while the plates are rattling and the world is coming to an end. It’s a haunting image, and lately, it has been feeling more real than fiction.
I used to work in a radio station once upon a time. I was responsible for the international news and I remember well the nervous energy of “OMG, the world is on fire” that I was carrying everywhere. After choosing to move away from that world I was determined to never allow too much of the noise to seep back into me.
But they do find their way, the news, and the scale of global chaos hits me hard – the climate shifts that some people refuse to acknowledge, the political instability on all continents, the wars, the economy.. In the face of these “comets,” I am largely feeling helpless.
So what is there to do? How do I cope and not freeze with fear or drop into depression?
If I cannot stabilise the planet, I clean my house, I show up for my clients. I cook dinner for my family. I keep practicing, keep breathing.
In yoga there is this practice called Ishvara Pranidhana. That’s the practice of accepting life as it is and surrendering to the natural flow of the universe. It’s all about acknowledging what is outside our control so we can focus entirely on what is within it.
If I cannot change what’s happening around me, I will look to find stability inside. I will keep breathing so I can meet the chaos, grounded and centred, act but not react.
I do my best.
Photo by Justin Wolff on Unsplash
