I Have A Few Questions

2.5.2026

And now it’s winter,

Winter in America.

Who knows what to save?

What would happen if people stopped pretending that we can make it through this madness without making huge changes?

What would the world look like if you didn’t keep yourself closed off because of some fear?

What would it be like to be bombarded with a different media lens that brought a 24 hour positive news cycle reporting stories about students succeeding in public schools, environmental stewards doing cool and innovative things, new inventions that someone thought of without leaning on AI, communities with people who see a neighbor that has a need and fills it?

What would it feel like to relax your shoulders and breathe fully all the time?

What’s on the other side of this?

We are certainly in a less than favorable place right now. I firmly believe that with the right actions, things will turn for the better. Yes, our current reality is dismal, but I’m recalling a lesson I learned from an aerial obstacle course. While hundreds of feet in the air and walking on unstable surfaces like a thick tightrope walker-style cable wire, heavy duty netting, or moving stumps it did me no good to keep looking at the thing that was unnerving me – the unsteady surfaces. I had to make a huge change to get through. I needed to keep my eyes on the goal.

Focusing on where I wanted to end up superseded my fear of the wobbly reality beneath me. It was beneath me. I had to keep looking forward, head up. I paused the walk. Deep breaths. Focus. Pull together all my energies. Focus on the goal. Begin.

After I figured this out I adjusted to the erratic movements. It became less frightening. My view of things changed. I accepted the varying movements that could have thrown me off balance if I lost focus and adapted my process. My gait became a bit more solid. The anxious feeling left and I made it through the rest of the course with a greater degree of calm.

And here we are now in our unstable, unnerving, unsteady, wobbly reality.

Not everyone has reached their “pause to reconsider how to modify and make it through” moment. Some have paused and are trying to work out how re-adapting might look. Let me suggest two main actions.

1. Take your eyes off what’s beneath you. It’s beneath you.

2. Keep your head up, eyes towards your bigger, higher goal.

Give attention to where you want to go, to what you want to achieve. Gather the power that you moved away from. Notice how you’ll begin to flow, even when things feel wobbly. Finish your course.

With a nod to the Gil Scott-Heron, save your souls from this winter in America.