Giving up can sometimes be step one

Ever wonder if you are built for an emergency?

Turns out, we all are.

Hardwired for emergencies, that’s us.

Our nervous systems are trained for quick response to danger … even if that quick response is to freeze!

But we are in a time of overwhelm. And actually have been for quite a while.

One of my favorite thinkers, Walter Benjamin, was talking about nervous system overload in the 1930s. He was noticing the impact of newspapers and the very very new technology of the moving picture. Seriously(!)
Benjamin could see it even then.

He wrote about overwhelm and shock as central to our experience in modern industrial society. He knew it was a tool of oppression.

Fast forward a hundred years or so and we’re talking about it a lot these days.

I wonder what he is thinking now. For sure, he must have some satisfaction in being proven so right. But I know he’d also be wanting to help us wake up from the shock.

Overwhelm is a strategy, don’t let it win. As many people are saying, whatever you do, do not give up.

But remember, you can give up temporarily, safely and gracefully.

And it seems pretty clear that you should give up regularly, or you risk getting stuck in depression, hopelessness, despair.

Invite yourself to give up, right now, on your next out breath.

Surrender.

Relax.

Let go.

The next thing will come.

Like day follows night, spring follows winter, in breath follows the out breath.

Allow nature to lead you.

Don’t push into collapse.

Allow your deepest self to move you.

It’s not easy but you’ve got this and the world needs you.

Why scarcity should be in your toolbox

Scarcity is one of those economic words that can land as oppressive.

Oppressive because it brings up lack, unfairness, hoarded wealth.

We live in an economic system that thrives on most people not having enough. Doesn’t ‘vacuum-up’ better describe what’s happening than ‘trickle down’?

In any case, scarcity is one of the most powerful triggers for human action.

We all suffer from FOMO. Fear of missing out seems to be hard wired.

So when something seems endless available we tend to devalue it.

Whereas something that is rare, unique, limited … it gains in appeal.

Scarcity motivates us to take action.

It is one of our most powerful tools for marketing.

Take care to use this trigger with love, but use it you should.

Help people take the risk of making a commitment to themselves.

Everyone’s favorite marketing philosopher, Seth Godin, recommends using scarcity on the other side as well.

Your time is scarce. Your energy, attention and focus are limited.

This can feel like cause for grief.

But fall in love with scarcity and you gain the momentum to make a difference.

“If scarcity is one of the elements of a game, we benefit from embracing the fact that we can’t have everything, do everything, or offer everything.”

Seth Godin (2024) This is Strategy.

Benefit from the pressure to choose.

Give yourself the generous gift of focus.

Finding your calm center

Hurricane, Cyclone, Typhoon …

Three names. The same intense experience.

Each one has a calm center.

These days, living in the US, I feel the cyclonic storm of empire crumbling, of era changing, of climate destabilization, of the future threatened.

And I am grateful for the practices that can help us find our calm center.

For a moment at least.

The brilliant zen teacher, Rev Angel, says simply, Return.

Fierce power and calm presence.

Wild freedom and deep rooted stability.

Finding our balance, finding our focus.

Not outside of the storm, but right in the center.

It seems that this is the work.

And I can’t deny that the swirling, terrifying, raging chaos storm has its pleasures.

But I really like being able to return.

I really like finding my focus.

The calm center at the eye of the storm.

You’ve got this.

And the world needs you.