Spiritual Poise/ Mental Health in a Mad World

Staying Strong in the Storm

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My first ever encounter with Northern Lights just last week!

A lot of my readers are both spiritually oriented and politically engaged and I thought this topic might be of use to many just now.

I watched the joint address to Congress last night because I feel it’s part of my job to stay informed and offer perspective. Like many, I have a visceral distaste for Trump that triggers when I hear his voice. I am also strongly opposed to this regime’s dismantling of civil rights, environmental protections, free speech and other components of democracy. The barrage of the first two-months and complete capitulation from Republican lawmakers leaves me at times either fearful or heartbroken or both.

Having heard disgust and dismay from several of you who also watched last night’s spectacle I thought I’d give my take on it and offer some tools that can help us stay spiritually poised in the midst of the chaos.

First, let me explain that I’m spiritual but not religious. I believe we’re spiritual beings having a human experience. I believe all species have a spiritual core. I think there’s a lot more to consciousness and beingness than this one lifetime and what we’re aware of through our human senses. I no longer view God as some judgmental, super-being, “out there” somewhere, but rather as Divine Mind, the Creative Force behind all life and I believe we can tune into that Force and experience a far more expansive and connected consciousness.

So, when I’m talking about spiritual poise I’m not referring to any particular dogma or staying true to a set of religious rules, but rather maintaining a relatively peaceful, positive state of mind no matter the circumstances we’re navigating. If you don’t like the term spiritual, you could just call it mental health. Over the years I’ve made a lot of progress figuring out how to stay spiritually poised in difficult situations a good percentage of the time. Those tools are proving very helpful in these weighty times.

With that here’s my take on the address:

The speech was pretty predicable. It was a rambling, on-going deliverance of red meat to the MAGA base. For all his faults, Trump does know how to rial up his base and deliver entertaining TV to those who like the bullying and meanness. One of the most shocking things about this regime is the blatancy of the lies and hypocrisy. Trump lied about the economy he inherited and lied about how the economy is currently doing. He repeated the lie that DOGE has found hundreds of billions of dollars of fraudulent government spending (they have provided no evidence of such and in fact, DOGE has repeatedly been caught making accounting errors). He also grossly lied about how much the U.S. has spent in support of Ukraine and was completely wrong when he claimed the U.S. had given hundreds of billions more than Europe had contributed.

Along with flat out lies, the hypocrisy was running thick. They made a display of a boy who had had brain cancer, holding him up and heralding his bravery (if you looked closer you could see the kid was very uncomfortable and kept asking what was going on). Meanwhile the regime has recently cut funding for National Institute of Health that runs the research into curing childhood cancer.

My jaw actually dropped a bit, when, while attacking federal workers, the despot said, without a trace of irony, that, "The days of rule by unelected bureaucrats are over," while Musk looked on from the galley.

The lying was not surprising, but the troubling truth is there are a lot of people out there who will take what he says at face value and either will not, or do not have the time to, ferret out truth from untruth. And immoral right-wing media will spread the lies. This was a speech aimed to fuel the culture war.

The final piece I’ll point out is that, once again, he compared his own greatness to George Washington and said outright that he’d been saved by God to make America great again. There really cannot be a clearer display of megalomania and narcissism than those statements. This was a personality disorder on full display.

OK, on the flip side, the Democrats and progressives were rowdy! It seems they are finally understanding that the rules and field of play have radically changed and are learning how to engage in this reshaped arena.

Rep. Melanie Stansbury held up a handwritten sign that read, “this is not normal,” right behind Trump as he walked in. GOP Rep. Lance Gooden had a fit and ripped the piece of paper out of her hands, and threw it in the air, nearly hitting Trump. This only amplified her message.

Many Democrats were wearing blue and yellow, signifying support for Ukraine. Others wore pink in protest of the regime’s policies that are hurting women and families.

Shortly after remarks began, Rep. Al Green interrupted Trump, yelling: “You have no mandate!” When he refused to be silent, Mike Johnson had him escorted out of the chambers. Green was unrepentant.

Halfway through the speech, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, Rep. Maxwell Frost and others walked out and removed their jackets—revealing t-shirts that read: “RESIST,” and “NO KINGS LIVE HERE.”

Throughout the long and rambling address Democrats held up signs reading: “Musk Steals,” “False”, “Protect Veterans,” “Save Medicaid,” “That’s a lie!” and “Start by paying your own taxes.”

Meanwhile, yesterday millions of us demonstrated in the biggest protests of the year outside nearly every state capital, and in more than 100 cities across America.

Today polling shows both Trump and Musk are losing support. FiveThirtyEight’s average of national polls showed 47.9% of respondents disapprove of the job Trump is doing compared to 47.6% who approved. The shift marks the first time since Trump took office that the president’s approval ratings are upside down.

I share this info. because one tool for maintaining spiritual poise is making sure to notice good news that’s taking place even in the midst of the mess.

Here are a few other tools I’m finding useful:

1) Holding space in the Field of Possibilities that all of this could be headed in a good direction.

We are in a time of trouble in this world, a heavy time, and there is grief in the bones of humanity. That’s a fact. However, another fact is that there is no way to know, with certainty, that these chaotic developments and dynamics won’t usher in profound and much-needed system and institutional change. Just because we can’t see how it will happen doesn’t mean there isn’t a possibility for it to happen. Our democracy and society hasn’t been healthy for quite some time and deep systems, and values, change is needed. It is possible this chaos could catalyze much-needed systems-change.

2) Taking action.

Action can be an antidote to despair. For me that means joining protests, writing and speaking about the issues of our times, and encouraging the questioning of assumptions and norms. It means having challenging conversations without throwing insults. It certainly means voting and encouraging fellow citizens to do the same. There are countless forms of positive action and any of them are better than just wallowing in the feeling of powerlessness.

3) Getting Out into Nature

Ancestors and prophecies have predicted times such as these and noted that the key is to listen to what Creation is saying. The Earth is always speaking. Hug a tree, put your feet in sand, go bird watching. Whatever lights you up, getting some unplugged nature time is soul medicine.

In order to transcend this chaos we must stay active and alert without burning out. To be effective we must be resilient. Facing what’s before us with an inner state of calm, resolve, and faith keeps us strong. Oh, and joy in the midst of darkness shines a light for all.

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I took my own advice and spent time last week in wild nature in North Central Alaska viewing the amazing Aurora Borealis. It was good for my soul for sure. I loved the dog sledding!

I accidentally hit slow motion for this vid of the sled dogs getting ready to go and I love this. Pure joy and being in the present moment.

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Here’s to a world that works better for all beings.

Cylvia