Macro and Micro

Recently, four friends have shared that they feel caught in the troubling news of the world. They feel yanked around with every new development, even disturbing headline, and find it hard to disengage. The more this happens, the more difficult it is for them to make decisions in their personal lives.

We all live in a time of increasing instability. Fires burn out of control in Canada, with clouds of smoke blanketing large portions of our country. Fires out of control is also a good description of the Middle East. In addition, Ukraine and Russia continue a hot war, while Pakistan and India, two nations with nuclear weapons, once again squared off with each other. At home, millions march in “No King” rallies while a military parade, like those staged by Russia and China, marches through Washington, DC.

One friend shared that he feels paralyzed with even the everyday decision of replacing his car. He isn’t weighing just his standard concerns about gas economy and which vehicle is best for the environment. Because he lives near several military bases, he feels forced to consider which vehicle he should buy if his family has to evacuate their home.

Two other friends are concerned about the effect the world’s and our nation’s instability is having on their three young children. They are wonderful and smart people. They know that their children can sense the worry that they live with as parents. That is not a silly concern. If we knew the effect that war—even distant wars—have on children, we’d be less inclined to believe that war solves anything.

More and more it’s fair to say that all of us, to one degree or another, are being traumatized by what is happening on the macro, the global and national, stages. The question then becomes, “Is there a way to negotiate the present instability?”

Here are two suggestions that I’ve been reading about lately concerning how, in times of instability, to stay grounded in our micro, or personal, worlds. The first approach encourages a deliberate balancing of the global and the personal, the macro and the micro. Yes, we have to be aware, as citizens and as human beings, of what is going on in the world. The solution is not to ignore the macro world, but to keep it from paralyzing us and consuming all our attention. How is this done? By deliberately taking time to notice what is good in our personal and community lives.

Should we be watching internet news services, the ones that report events as soon as they are happening? Yes, but we should also turn those services off and read the local newspaper, like The Daily Journal, chat with our neighbors about their gardens, and play games with our children.

The second approach derives from the Buddhist tradition. At times, our lives can feel like we’re standing in the middle of a raging river. We sense, if world and national events get any worse, that we’ll be swept away. We keep trying to somehow stop the river, but the truth is that we have no control over the water that seems to be rising and rushing at us.

If we cannot even slow the news, slow the raging river, what can we do? The only option is to change where we stand. Instead of fighting the force of the raging current, we need to move to the shore. Standing grounded on shore, we are still aware of the river. It is still raging, but we are able to watch it go by rather than be swept away by it.

Fight, flight, and freeze are not the only options we have in uncertain times. Staying grounded by learning to balance the macro and micro worlds is not easy—but it is our only hope.