The Radical Act of Choosing Your Focus
As the year unfolds, I am coming apart. My attention is split.
The atrocities unfolding before us all—in the U.S. and the world. For me, Minneapolis, Minnesota is holding specific attention.
My day-to-day work with clients and this community.
The immediate world around me—currently Ubud, Bali—which is vibrant, green, full of ancient symbolism, and happy local people and travelers. Symbols of the balance between worldly reality and the spirit world are everywhere.
My personal care, inner world, and spiritual connection.
I would say that for a while this first area of focus has been taking the highest percentage of my attention. For days, most of my free waking hours were spent pouring over available footage and information, trying to find sources from all perspectives to get the whole zeitgeist and the best possible understanding of the dangers looming for my home city, family, and friends—as well as our country and world. I couldn’t keep up as things were unfolding left, right, and center—and I don’t mean politically. If you list what has unfolded in the last 20-some days worldwide, it is mind-boggling.
In my old neighborhood of Powderhorn Park in South Minneapolis, they have a sled rally in the dead of winter every year. This year I saw that it was dedicated to peace and resistance, with the slogan: “We Sled At Dawn! Community Over Cruelty!” The crazy amount of humor and creativity was amazing to see. It made me fall in love with my wild, lefty, artsy community there all over again. Long live the progressives of South Minneapolis!
It reminded me that there are a host of ways to respond to the world, and resistance can look like a lot of things. It also reminded me that if there is one thing I have learned, it is that the unseen is real and energy matters. Rather than gripping my phone the first moment of awakening to scroll, searching for the latest updates, summoning fear, and doubling my morning cortisol rush, I could make a different choice—a conscious choice about where to put my focus.
I asked myself: what is needed here? Peace, perspective, order, fair processes, compassion, care. How can I create these in myself? Where am I being careless, brutal, unfair, blind? Where do feelings and sensations of peace, harmony, strength, and meaningful, intentional, calm action live in my body? What vision of the future do I want to hold? This exercise was the hardest thing to summon, as fearful imaginings were quite intrusive.
I remembered to invite and ask. Invite my spirit guides, my helpful loving ancestors, the spirit world, and all who are good, loving, and caring in other dimensions for assistance, protection, insight, foreknowledge, and good and safe positioning in my day and life—and that of caring people everywhere—for the best and highest contribution to a peaceful world now.
Friends, this isn’t play. This isn’t small or insignificant. How many of us can do this—hold this faith and love in the face of fear? If you can, you must. This is very real work in the world, and it takes a lot. So please do join me now.
Close your eyes and picture your perfect version of peace, safety, a fair and loving community and society. If you can’t hold a vision, or if slowing down and turning in feels like too much—and it can—then move. Walk, shake, bounce, tap your body, hum, move. Put on music and dance your version of peace for just 10 minutes.
Dedicate your movement to love—of yourself first, of those around you, of all living things on this earth. Find joy daily. Joy is the highest of all energies. Gray fear is not the only appropriate response in these times.
