Heroes Not Zombies

We live in troubled times. Fear, anger, frustration, anxiety and uncertainty are feelings all too familiar to far too many of us. These disturbing feelings are, much of the time, there for a reason. They are alerting us that something isn’t right. They are provoking us to deal with something.

I know the preferred response is to soothe them, to take the edge of them, blunt them, or try avoidance through distraction.

And, like all feelings, if they are too strong, or last too long, then they can become all consuming.

So we need to do a couple of things, don’t we?

We need to find the ways to cope and to respond so that we benefit from these rather unpleasant feelings.

I think what’s most important is that we understand them, that we understand what we are experiencing and why.

Some of it is personal. There’s an issue to address, a relationship to improve, a task which we should complete, a habit we should change.

But a lot of it is collective. We live in a world undergoing climate change. We live in political systems which are controlling and untrustworthy. We live in economic systems which favour the rich, punish the poor and vulnerable, and which are becoming more and more unequal. We live in social systems which promote greed and selfishness. We live in mass production industrial systems which pollute and poison.

When we understand what’s underlying all the fear, anger and anxiety, then we need to act.

I find there are two types of action which help. One is to do what I know makes me feel more calm.

This photo is an example. It’s a scene of peace and calm. I experienced a profound sense of wholeness and tranquility there that day and I can recreate those feelings today by looking at this photo, taking three, long, deep breaths, and activating my imagination to recreate that moment in my mind. You can do that too, with your own photo, your own memory of such an experience, or by using this photo to spark your imagination into recreating a similar time of peace and calm which you experienced in your own life.

There are loads of other ways to build positive emotions and to cope with disturbing ones. The important thing is to act – to do whatever works for you.

But I think there’s another stream of activity needed too….the one focused on our shared world. The causes of these disturbances are real and we need to act together to change them.

I’m not going to enumerate all the ways we can address and respond to these complex issues but I think that deciding to live more consciously is an important first step. That can lead to changing my daily life by choosing to eat food which is less processed, more local and more seasonal. It can lead to different choices about buying and consuming. It can lead to deliberate communication with others and to participation in campaigns.

Taking action, achievable action, to address the causes of fear, anger and frustration is a good step towards more peace and calm.