SLOW down

Hello from Hell,

I wish I were joking. I’m writing this the morning after eating some questionable lettuce at lunch yesterday. It was the kind of night nearly every human has endured at least once: violent, humbling, unforgettable.

Layer on top of that two sick children; both with the flu, one with RSV. Our son is three. Our daughter is nine months. Add escrow on a new home. And hovering over it all, the unsettled state of this country and the wider world.

And yet.

The quiet magic in moments like this is self-awareness.

How am I holding myself right now?

Is my jaw clenched?
Is my chest tight?

Recently, I’ve begun spending more time noticing how I physically feel, not in the language of wellness, but as a gauge. A barometer. Life unfolds as a consequence of past choices. When we arrive at the results of those choices, we feel them in our bodies first.

The majesty in it all is simple: we are alive. Other people are alive. People are people. We treat others as we hope to be treated. We hope the loudest and worst among us are not steering the entire ship. We hope decisions are guided by facts and science. We hope integrity still matters.

But the easiest place to begin is closer to home.

We are responsible for how we feel. For how we speak to ourselves. When we learn to observe ourselves honestly, we can meet what is actually present instead of what we fear or project. That is integrity. That is the moral center.

As above, so below.