Hey Reader,

At the bottom of today’s email is a free 25-minute mini-workshop I recorded for you. It’s all about how we hold the charge of this moment – the heaviness, fear, unease, and discomfort of it all – in a gentle and intentional way.

Just wanted to make sure you saw it 🙂

Alright – onward to today’s prompt:

A couple weeks ago, I wrote that we are collectively living in the midst of a disillusioning moment.

I defined this experience as:

And as part of this disillusioning moment, I named that we're not just in the middle of one crisis. Many of us are instead feeling the weight of living at the convergence point of several intersecting crises.

In particular:

1. Individual: internal questions of purpose, meaning, identity, and who we are.
2. Interpersonal: relational challenges stemming from loneliness and breakdowns in connection.
3. Institutional: loss of trust in institutions our society has become dependent upon: education, banking, lawmakers, law-enforcers, media, and so on.
4. Intergenerational: harmful systems, norms, and challenges that have been allowed to remain powerful, passively or actively, across generations (white supremacy, misogyny, heteronormativity, climate change, ableism, etc.)
5. Existential: questioning the purpose and meaning of life and how the Universe works: “Why is it like this?” and “What’s the point?”

(I really want to call that last one the “intergalactic” just to keep the alliteration going.)

This is why the heaviness we might be feeling – the anxiety, the fear, the unease – this is why it just keeps staying.

We might find resolution for an interpersonal crisis with a friend, but still feel the weight of the institutional, intergenerational, and existential crises weaving together. Or we might have a big ah-ha moment related to our identity...but still feel a bit unmoored and lost in the sauce.

So what do we do with this, in a practical sense?

Here are three small-ish steps that can help build capacity for holding the charge of this experience:

1. Story: For each of these intersecting crises, check in with yourself. What are the particularities of the crises you’re feeling? (This doesn’t necessarily mean the crises you’re aware of; focus on the ones you’re feeling.) Perhaps write them on a piece of paper and just give yourself space to name them. You can use the questions below for this.
2. Practice: Move your body in a way that releases pressure or tension in your muscles. Some things you might try: soothing self-touch, stretching, humming, hiking, tapping or drumming, intentional yawning, basketball. (Seriously, if you’re feeling the heaviness of this moment, begin with moving your body – don’t just try to think it away!)
3. Solidarity: Reach out to a friend and invite them for coffee or a walk. Share how you’re feeling in the midst of this. Ask how they’re experiencing this moment. Create space for storytelling, community, and inviting each other into shared action.

There is no quick and easy way out of this disillusioning moment.

But we have tools and practices that can help us stay present to each other, engaged in the repair work that needs to be done, and connected – no matter how tenuously – to our inherent dignity.

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❓ Questions

1. What individual crises are alive for you right now? Interpersonal? Institutional? Intergenerational? Existential? (You might not be feeling a crisis for every category!)
2. How are you feeling these crises in your body? Try to locate the site (chest, back tightness, jaw, etc.), impact (grumpiness, inability to speak in conflict, fight/flight/flee/fawn responses, etc.), and soothing action that might tend to this experience.

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🧰 Resources

• ​How to Hold the Charge of This Moment (mini-workshop)
• "We are living in a disillusioning moment" (article)
• ​We Should Get Together by Kat Vellos (book)

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Free mini-workshop: How to Hold the Charge of This Moment Based on the program I’m building for the new year, this 25-minute mini-workshop includes a short primer on how our nervous systems work, why this current moment feels so catastrophic for many of us, and a couple practical things we can do to metabolize the charge and move into localized, relational action. Watch the mini-workshop If you watch it and want to join the program's waitlist, you can do so by clicking here. (And I’ll send you an update tomorrow!)

I would love to hear from you: how is this landing? What thoughts, experiences, or stories come up for you as you read about these intersecting crises?

Hope all is well-enough with you,

Andrew IG: @andrewglang​

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