Out of the whole burning horizon…pick a single cause…issue…or place that genuinely connects to you; your values…your skills…your community…your people. The thing that, when you think about it…you feel a pull rather than just a dread.”
I am currently evacuated from my home due to massive wildfires so the “whole burning horizon” has a double meaning for me. These are not separate “horizons”! So far, I am blessed that my home is still standing! I want my country to remain standing when this current ordeal is over.
I am able to help others now who are devastated by loss and in doing so, I am able to serve my community which is my one issue. Building and maintaining community now is vital for wildfire recovery and national recovery of our democracy.
I am tired. I can do this! Thank you again for clarity in the present moments as we move forward!
Good advice, it reminds me of the starfish story shared with by a student's mother. One person tossing starfish back into the ocean on a beach covered with hundreds of starfish. A passerby questioning why, when you obviously can't save them all, the person replied but I can save at least one. I am already thinking about my patch! #holdfast
This is huge for me…. my default reaction is freeze. Doesn’t help that I can see how all the pieces are simply factions, consequences or causes of all the others. Picking a lane has always been my biggest challenge. It also doesn’t help that my interests are SO far flung that widely disparate things vie for my attention in any given moment on any given day.
One of my huge passions is the environment. My property is 2.75 acres and multiple invasives (think @11 different kinds of ground covers planted by the previous owners) are rampant. My goal is to obtain Certified Native Habitat status and restore the land as much as I can. It will take literal years to complete as chemicals are an absolute last resort. Working on this is also grounding and healing for me.
Here’s my struggle….. is this enough? or do I also take on something more closely related to the current hot topics in addition?? My immediate area is pretty varied…. everything from a 75 yr old white guy Libertarian Trump (maybe a WCN?) voter, blue Dem Harris voters, super right wingers tossed in…. None of them even remotely interested in environmental issues so I’m guessing what I’m doing is of minimal interest to any of them based on convos to date. And is what I’m doing helping the cause (political)?? And….. does it move the needle overall? We all need a viable planet to live, so yes the work is important and…. is there another thing that would help more…..?
Thank you Jack! These articles are like a drink of water in the desert!! Not only refreshing…. they are life sustaining for those of us doing our best to turn the thread we’re hanging by to a giant a** rope with a net below. I believe that together we CAN get there.
Great post Jack! "The Patch: How to Actually Move Something" Take one concrete step at a time towards any goal. It's pure in it's simplicity, utterly attainable, and can be applied to almost anything you want to accomplish!. (Start kicking Trump's ass one step at a time!)
As always, thank you. Off to our happy place visiting good friends in the UK and their crazy spaniels. On a charity walk raising funds for Bravehound, a group that trains service dogs for vets next week. This will be our self-care.
If each of the blocks that you have added to this solution, I can’t know which will add the most value to each person. It would be nice if it all resonates, but this one is what I had come to near the beginning of the current situation where everything is huge. Everything is local when the news would want you to focus on the national problems. I can help fix local. I can add pressure to national but I can’t fix anything national except to vote.
“One: choose the one thing that’s yours.
Out of the whole burning horizon…pick a single cause…issue…or place that genuinely connects to you; your values…your skills…your community…your people. The thing that, when you think about it…you feel a pull rather than just a dread.”
I am currently evacuated from my home due to massive wildfires so the “whole burning horizon” has a double meaning for me. These are not separate “horizons”! So far, I am blessed that my home is still standing! I want my country to remain standing when this current ordeal is over.
I am able to help others now who are devastated by loss and in doing so, I am able to serve my community which is my one issue. Building and maintaining community now is vital for wildfire recovery and national recovery of our democracy.
I am tired. I can do this! Thank you again for clarity in the present moments as we move forward!
Keeping hopeful thoughts your home makes it through these fires.
Good advice, it reminds me of the starfish story shared with by a student's mother. One person tossing starfish back into the ocean on a beach covered with hundreds of starfish. A passerby questioning why, when you obviously can't save them all, the person replied but I can save at least one. I am already thinking about my patch! #holdfast
This is huge for me…. my default reaction is freeze. Doesn’t help that I can see how all the pieces are simply factions, consequences or causes of all the others. Picking a lane has always been my biggest challenge. It also doesn’t help that my interests are SO far flung that widely disparate things vie for my attention in any given moment on any given day.
One of my huge passions is the environment. My property is 2.75 acres and multiple invasives (think @11 different kinds of ground covers planted by the previous owners) are rampant. My goal is to obtain Certified Native Habitat status and restore the land as much as I can. It will take literal years to complete as chemicals are an absolute last resort. Working on this is also grounding and healing for me.
Here’s my struggle….. is this enough? or do I also take on something more closely related to the current hot topics in addition?? My immediate area is pretty varied…. everything from a 75 yr old white guy Libertarian Trump (maybe a WCN?) voter, blue Dem Harris voters, super right wingers tossed in…. None of them even remotely interested in environmental issues so I’m guessing what I’m doing is of minimal interest to any of them based on convos to date. And is what I’m doing helping the cause (political)?? And….. does it move the needle overall? We all need a viable planet to live, so yes the work is important and…. is there another thing that would help more…..?
Thank you Jack! These articles are like a drink of water in the desert!! Not only refreshing…. they are life sustaining for those of us doing our best to turn the thread we’re hanging by to a giant a** rope with a net below. I believe that together we CAN get there.
Great post Jack! "The Patch: How to Actually Move Something" Take one concrete step at a time towards any goal. It's pure in it's simplicity, utterly attainable, and can be applied to almost anything you want to accomplish!. (Start kicking Trump's ass one step at a time!)
As always, thank you. Off to our happy place visiting good friends in the UK and their crazy spaniels. On a charity walk raising funds for Bravehound, a group that trains service dogs for vets next week. This will be our self-care.
If each of the blocks that you have added to this solution, I can’t know which will add the most value to each person. It would be nice if it all resonates, but this one is what I had come to near the beginning of the current situation where everything is huge. Everything is local when the news would want you to focus on the national problems. I can help fix local. I can add pressure to national but I can’t fix anything national except to vote.