I’m attempting to be more intentional about the influences I choose to have in my life. I’m working with a fairly limited amount of patience and emotional energy these days, so I need to make sure I’m able to refill my cup in the right ways, for the sake of myself and those that rely on me.
The various stories and narratives I expose myself to influences me in all sorts of ways. What I choose to listen to, read, and watch impacts my mood, my thoughts, my dreams and truly who I am becoming as a person. Similarly, the people I choose to interact with and how I choose to interact with them has a dramatic impact on how I feel about myself and what I deem is important in my life. The friends I choose and the conversations I have with them forms who I am and who I continually am becoming.
In this pandemic era full of misinformation and division, I am drawn to stories of truth and intimacy, of gentleness and compassion. When I feel down, I like to find stories that help validate my own feelings of sadness or fear or anxiety, or stories of inspiration where people push through the hardest moments of their lives to help others and therefore help themselves, too .
I am in constant pursuit of stories and people and situations where gentleness, empathy, and compassion win the day. I am drawn to the stories of our shared humanity, a humanity that understands that sometimes love means being patient with one another, and sometimes it means cutting people off that are toxic to our own mental, physical, emotional, or spiritual health.
This is our one life we get to live. I choose to seek out the stories of justice, mercy, and humility. Because it’s in those stories that it’s easiest for me to see the Divine.
Stepping Back 