As I sit here with my tea, trying to process the dreadful news about political activist Charlie Kirk's murder, I feel that now-familiar tightness in my chest—the one that comes when the world seems to be unraveling faster than we can make sense of it.
Maybe you feel it too?
The headlines assault us daily: Shocking gun violence, international conflicts that feel both distant and terrifyingly close, leaders feuding while we wonder who we can trust and what we can count on.
At our age, we've lived through enough upheaval to sense when the ground beneath us has fundamentally shifted. This isn't just another difficult season—it's like we're watching the very fabric of our shared humanity fray at the edges.
But here's what I've learned through my own dark valleys, and maybe it will resonate with you: It's precisely when our troubles feel most overwhelming that we need to become fierce guardians of the small, beautiful things.
I don't mean this as empty comfort or spiritual bypassing. I've certainly tried those approaches and found them hollow. I mean something more essential that has saved me during my most challenging times.
The Radical Act of Wonder
Yesterday, while walking my familiar trail by the lake and feeling down, I watched a great blue heron stand motionless in the shallows for what must have been twenty minutes. Just... waiting. Completely present. Trusting in its own timing.
That quiet scene drew me into stillness. Against a backdrop of constant upheaval and uncertainty, this ancient creature was modeling perfect presence. For those precious moments, I was transported into pure awe—and later, reflecting on what I'd experienced, I realized:
Cultivating wonder isn't about pretending everything's fine. It's about refusing to let the darkness swallow our capacity for presence, connection, and the sacred ordinary moments that remind us who we are.
When I stop what I'm doing to watch a bright red cardinal in the bird bath outside my window, pause to fully enjoy my husband's laughter, or let myself be moved by a stranger's kindness—I'm tuning into more soulful living.
I've come to understand that sacred, beautiful moments aren't hiding in some distant, perfect future. They're woven into the fabric of our most ordinary days, waiting for us to pause long enough to receive them.
And when we do pause, we're not being frivolous. We're doing something revolutionary.
We're saying: "You will not steal my ability to recognize beauty. You will not rob me of my connection to what matters most."
What Would Love Do?
This is my question for all of us during these heavy times: What would Love do in the face of all this raw pain and division?
Not love as sentiment, but Love as the fierce, transformative force that connects us all. The Love that sees beyond headlines to human hearts breaking, the Love that knows we're all trying to make sense of a world that often doesn't make sense.
Perhaps Love would have us tend more carefully to the people right in front of us. Maybe it would ask us to create pockets of peace in our own homes and communities. Might it invite us to listen more deeply, understand more gently, hold space for both grief and wonder?
I don't know what your version of the still heron in the lake looks like, but I hope you'll find it. I hope you'll let it remind you that even in the darkest times, there are still moments that can crack your heart open—not with pain, but with gratitude.
Because the truth is, a sense of wonder won't solve the world's problems. But it just might keep us connected to our humanity while figuring out how to help heal what's broken.
And that's precisely what the world needs from us right now.
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Awe is all around us. With a little intentionality, we can reclaim our sense of wonder in the everyday, ordinary moments of life. Perhaps awe, while an ordinary response to the extraordinary, is also an extraordinary response to the ordinary.
3 Lessons That Will Make You Feel Awe | Reflections of Life on YouTube
What Is a Good Life, and How Can We Create It?
Forty-plus years of research has pointed to two answers. The first says that a good life is a happy life, one created by pursuing comfort, satisfaction and more joy than sadness. The second says that a good life is a meaningful life, one grounded by purpose, connection and making the world better.
But recently, researchers have proposed a third answer.
What Science Considers a Path to a Good Life | Washington Post (Gift Article)
A Practice for More Connection
Loneliness can be hard to shake, as former U.S. surgeon general Vivek Murthy found. But there are little steps we can take each day to feel more connected.
When You Feel Alone, Try This Practice | Greater Good Magazine
The Spiritual Part of Human Nature
It’s safe to say we’ve never been more aware of mental health. And yet, some fear that as awareness of mental health has gone up, the state of our mental health has gone down.
When we give up on the spiritual part of human nature, we also give up on a supportive framework which can help us handle the anxieties of these particularly challenging times.
The Connection Between Spirituality and Mental Health | Time Magazine
Little Bits of Light
Words to open your heart and SOOTHE YOUR SOUL
Thank You for Sharing
How She Thrives!
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