Rising Through the Quicksand
There are moments when the collective fear feels almost tangible — in the news, in conversations, even in the air we breathe.
We can sense the weight of a world that’s forgotten its own steadiness.
And yet, within that heaviness lies a quiet invitation: to pause, to remember, and to ask ourselves what kind of world we still wish to build.
Rising Through the Quicksand
In Atlas of the Heart, Brené Brown maps more than eighty distinct emotions, yet most of us only name three: happy, sad, and angry.
If she were to update the book today, I suspect fear would claim the top spot.
Fear has become the background hum of modern life—so constant that we hardly notice how much it dictates our choices.
Parents wonder if their children will come home safely from school.
Families worry about keeping a roof overhead, paying for groceries, and staying warm through the winter.
Workers question whether stability is still possible at all.
And beneath it all, fear keeps tightening its grip—splitting communities, feeding suspicion, and turning exhaustion into despair.
The Cost of Division
It’s hard not to feel as though the unraveling is deliberate.
The more afraid we are, the easier we are to divide.
The more divided we become, the harder it is to remember that we’re on the same side: human.
When fear rules the conversation, empathy becomes the casualty.
We begin to see categories instead of faces, differences instead of common ground.
Fear convinces us that safety comes from separation—when in truth, safety is born of connection.
Rising Through Recognition
So how do we rise from this quicksand?
By starting where fear ends—in recognition.
Seeing one another.
Naming what we feel without shame.
Choosing decency in the smallest, most ordinary moments: a steady breath, a kind word, a meal shared, a vote cast, a hand extended.
Courage doesn’t mean we stop being afraid.
It means we refuse to let fear make us forget who we are.
Choosing the World We Want
We are at a juncture—another point in time where we get to decide what kind of world we want to live in.
No, we can’t change everything overnight, but we can take responsibility for what is within our reach: our actions, our words, and our thoughts.
It’s time to remember that these three ripple outward, shaping the vibration of this glorious planet.
What we feel is in direct correlation to what we experience—and that’s the place to begin.
We won’t avoid pain or uncertainty altogether, but we must believe that we have the power to shift the paradigm toward the greater good.
If we don’t, we can only expect more of the same.
Here’s a final thought I’ll leave you with
Recognition is how courage begins.
