A Sane Response to an Insane Moment

Here's a snapshot of my day yesterday in the United States: 

• Made coffee.

• Watched some experts on TV talk about the situation in Venezuela.

• Looked up a recipe for bean soup.

• Studied the most recent video angle.

• Cried.

• Scheduled a driving lesson for a kid.

• Wiped the counters.

• Listened to a veteran's perspective on recent events online; he got teary.

• Got teary. 

• Exercised.

• Cried at an Eminem song while working out. (wtf?)

• Remembered I need to renew my license plates.

• Went to Costco.

• Picked up hair dye.

• Wondered what the state of things will be for my kids in 10 years. 

 
It was only 3 PM, and I was exhausted. I asked my husband to make the bean soup and got into bed for a bit. Our floors needed cleaned yesterday, but are still covered in a layer of dog hair.

The level of compartmentalization required just to stay informed and keep functioning is… next level.

It's like we're all running two operating systems at once. One part of us is trying to stay present for work, kids, routines, clients, emails…. 

And another part is quietly tracking the world, the news, the uncertainty, the grief, the “what now?”

If you're feeling that split, you're not weird, and you're not alone. 

You're having a sane response to an insane circumstance.

I have no magic answer. No productivity hack that makes the world feel less heavy. No mindset shift that suddenly makes it easy to focus.

But I do want to name something: Your nervous system is doing exactly what it's designed to do. It's protecting you. It's helping you function. It's letting you hold what's too big to hold and the everyday all at once.

And sometimes that looks like doing your work with one tab open and doomscrolling with the other. Sometimes it looks like shutting the news off completely so you can make dinner. Sometimes it looks like Googling real estate in other countries for 20 minutes because your brain needs an escape hatch.

That doesn't make you avoidant. It makes you human.

Just remember, it all requires a strange amount of emotional energy that can make you physically exhausted.

If you're carrying a lot right now, I hope you give yourself permission to be exactly where you are — not more regulated, not more informed, not more productive, not more “together.” Just here. Just you. Just doing the best you can with the bandwidth you have.

Take breaks where you can, do a soup exchange with a neighbor to get a night off cooking, serve a girl dinner, and put less on your plate temporarily. Discern what's not in your control from what you CAN do and do that, and know that's enough. 

Self‑care isn't apolitical. It's how we stay resourced enough to think clearly, stay connected, and not shut down.

With you…looking at a tumbleweed of dog hair,