How to Shield Yourself from the Chaos of the World Right Now
By: Sameena Mughal
Tags: Self Care, Personal Development, Society, Politics, Self Improvement

How to Shield Yourself from the Chaos of the World Right Now

Especially when more is coming

Photo by Kyndall Ramirez on Unsplash

2020 relentlessly serves up cause for cynicism. Between a pandemic, political unrest, and division, unlike anything I’ve seen in my lifetime, I’m having more WTF moments than ever. Considering the fuel the coming election results will add to the societal wildfire, the chaos will likely peak. Despite that, I made a conscious decision to shield myself from it.

Here’s what I’m doing.

Keeping my news intake to a minimum

I curtailed the amount of time I spent watching to 10–20 minutes if I do watch it. I am not equipped to handle all the world’s ills, and I don’t need to continuously remind myself of them.

When COVID-19 hit, I watched the news and read articles to learn as much as I could. I like to stay informed, generally. Now, it’s a matter of having the information I need to protect myself. In the middle of all that, I became a minor news junkie.

Compound that with the Trump administration’s refusal to take any leadership role to slow the spread, I slowly leaned into watching one inept move after another. Then, I found myself scratching my head, wondering why people still defended Trump and his troop of incompetent brown-nosers.

The social unrest of the summer following George Floyd’s murder took me deeper into the abyss. Between the blatant racism of some and the deliberate blind-eye of others, my pessimism grew.

I had to step back. I’m no good to myself or anybody if I stay focused on the negative. And where do you see a lot of the negative? The news.

I like to stay informed but not at the expense of my sanity.

Staying connected to the people in my life

Everyday life can keep us from staying in touch with people. Now, social distancing adds an extra obstacle to keep up communication. I am not the greatest with reaching out usually, but I have stepped it up lately.

I text and call people who make me feel good. I have one friend who I text multiple times a day. I have never done that in my life, but I enjoy maintaining our connection.

Zoom calls still give me pause because I haven’t figured out angles yet that make me look decent. But I enjoy seeing people’s faces when we’re chatting.

Finding joy as much as I can

When I find myself getting pinched, I find the happy.

I get hyper-focused when I’m in work mode. My dog has become an excellent accountability partner to keep me in check. The little monster stares at me with his amber eyes, gets on his back, bares his belly for me to rub, and grins at me until I do it.

He steers me back to joy. The other animals in my neighborhood pull me out of serious mode with their quirky personalities too.

A beautiful feral cat on my block who looks like a lynx sashays around like she owns it. I named her Cleopatra Jones because she’s regal and sassy at the same time. Jiminy sounds like a cricket and is the loudest squirrel I have ever heard in my life. I never even realized squirrels made noise until I heard him. I thought it was a baby bird in a nest at first.

What’s so joyful about naming random animals? It makes me laugh. That’s never a bad idea.

Connecting to myself and nature

I am a firm believer in filling my cup. If I’m not happy, I’m not useful to anyone. My self-care is my daily priority.

I do some form of exercise and meditation daily. I meditate once in the morning and in the evening. The evening is especially important because it helps release all the thoughts I have accumulated during the day. Emptying my mind helps me sleep, which is a primary health foundation we all take for granted.

No matter what the weather is like, I have to get outside everyday. When I take my dog for a walk in the morning, I take in the sky, the trees and focus on the beauty that surrounds me. It calms me and keeps the stress at bay.

Nature is a living example of resilience. After heavy rain, I took a walk through one of my favorite parks by a river. I saw downed trees along different pathways, and the sight reminded me of their steadfastness.

They are present, standing in the same spot for hundreds of years. When one falls, they don’t fuss. The other animals don’t either. Everything keeps going.

People complain about so many things all the time. Where does it get us?

Nature is a constant stream of living examples of presence, the divine in action.

Life takes many twists and turns, generally. In this bizarre time, the state of the world, this country, has been an unending tornado. While we can’t ignore it, we can protect ourselves from the storm.

We can shield ourselves from the chaos.