Tune in, turn off, and drop in
How closely should we be following the news right now?
I spent inauguration week as far away from the news as I could get: deep in the jungle of Costa Rica, at the Pure.Wild.Self retreat with my favorite wise women, Martha Beck and Rowan Mangan.
Side note: You know I adore Martha Beck. I’ve been posting about her an extra lot recently because I joined her Wilder community, then her new book came out, and then I went to meet her. If you’re wondering if this Substack is turning into a MB fan page… well, I can’t say for sure that it’s not! But this post is not really about her, it’s about selectively unsubscribing from the prevailing culture, which was the focus of her Costa Rica retreat.
It had already been a January from hell, and I was glad to skip town, even if I felt a little guilty about swanning off to a fancy retreat while my city was going up in flames. The retreat was billed as a “culture cleanse”, just what I needed. Six days of immersion in nature—including my own human nature—was a mind-calming, body-soothing, and heart-opening experience. The neurotic chatter in my head quietened down. My senses came alive. I remembered that I am a sentient animal with instinct and intuition programmed into my bones. And I did not miss the noisy headlines one bit. (Get on the waitlist for the 2026 Pure.Wild.Self retreat here! I’ll be there.)
Back home a week later, I opened Instagram and saw Elon Musk doing a Nazi salute. On CNN, I watched Scott Jennings insist that it was definitely not a Nazi salute and scold Americans with eyes for daring to say what they saw. Planes fell out of the sky. Pages of data—and entire categories of people—were purged from government websites. Indigenous people were detained and threatened with deportation (to where?!) And the world’s richest man—an unelected private citizen—was handed the password to America’s bank account along with a lot of our personal financial data. As I write this, he is in the process of shutting down USAID, a government agency that he has no legal authority to meddle in.
Fourteen days down. One thousand, four hundred and forty-six to go.
I know I don’t need to tell you this, but things are very fucked up right now, and it’s painful to witness. We shouldn’t be surprised—after all, every bit of this shock and awe strategy was laid out in Project 2025—but we seem to be stunned to see it unfolding as advertised.
“Now is not the time to look away,” warn the activists. But I think it might actually be the perfect time, even a necessary time, to look away, at least a bit.
How to strike that perfect balance of information consumption, where we are neither checked out nor paralyzed by overwhelm?
I am far from a news hater. In fact, I am a fervent lover of the free press. An informed citizenry is a cornerstone of any functioning democracy; we can’t defend against threats we don’t know about or won’t acknowledge. We should all hope professional newsgathering survives this administration.
But being relentlessly blasted by a firehose of destruction and despair will turn you into a quivering blob of cortisol that can’t get out of bed. Outrage and stubborn optimism got me through the first DJT presidency. But looking back, I can see that man and his ego-maniacal chaos hijacked a huge part of my time and attention for those four years. I do not want to be yanked around by him like that again, and the understanding that much worse is coming makes me want to tap out.
I know I’m not alone in this. We are tired. We are scared. We do not want this. Yet, it is happening, and we each have to find our way through it.
It’s tricky: Democracy ain’t going to defend itself, and you can’t be helpful to the cause if your head is in the sand. But being well-informed is pretty useless if it means you’re incapacitated by a wrecked nervous system.
And consider the opportunity cost of fixating on a chaotic aggressor for another half-decade. What becomes of the life we’re meant to be living? This man and his band of marauders are trying to put the entire country into a prolonged trance of terror, and our dreams, our joy, our creations, will be among the casualties.
That is just too high a price to pay.
How to strike that perfect balance of information consumption, where we are neither checked out nor paralyzed by overwhelm?
To misquote Timothy Leary: It’s time to tune in, turn off, and drop in.
Here’s what I mean by that.
TUNE IN to what you know to be true. The shitstorm of lies is intentionally dizzying. It’s crucial to know what you know and say what you see, even (or especially?) when the White House is holding its press conferences in the Upside Down. That right there is a Nazi salute. Vulnerable people are being scapegoated. The price of eggs is not going down.
Tune into the world inside, too: I feel sad and scared. Scrolling Instagram fills my head with dark visions and wrecks my sleep.
And don’t neglect to take note of the good and hopeful truths: In this moment, I am safe. Cooking for my friends makes me feel calmer and less alone. Good, bad, or neutral, your truth is solid ground in a topsy-turvy world. Stand on it.
TURN OFF the news as soon as you’ve got what you came for. I’m still keeping up with the headlines. It’s important to know what’s going on. But I’m questioning the idea that standing in solidarity means gulping down every gory detail. Once you know what you needed to know, it’s ok to look away. And certainly when you feel yourself maxing out emotionally, you must look away. Remember: burning us out is part of their stated strategy, so self-preservation is not selfish, it’s an act of service to the collective. Anyway, gawping for hours at a burning building does nothing to put out the fire.
DROP IN to your body. Don’t forget you are a soft-bellied animal, not a computer on a stick! How are you feeling? Are you being a loving caretaker of that creature? Or are you doing your enemy’s handiwork, depriving yourself of food, sleep, and safe human connection? When the state of the world makes your heart or brain hurt, maybe put down your phone and run outside in the rain.
Dropping into your body is also a shortcut to finding your rightful role in this drama. There are as many ways to contribute to humanity as there are souls in bodies. What is your personal assignment? Probably not doom-scrolling.
We need a functioning opposition party and strong local governments. We need grassroots organizers. We need community care for those whose rights and access to institutional support are being stripped away. If you feel called to a role in public service, bless you, you are made of stronger stuff than I am.
But let’s not discount other forms of contribution. We still need teachers and scientists and accountants. We need parents and caregivers and plant-growers and clothing makers and event planners. We need entrepreneurs. We need artists and writers and comedians. Certainly, we need therapists, healers, and coaches. And sometimes the most important job you can do is just to rest and heal so you can pick yourself up tomorrow and carry on.
Taking the long view
I’ve seen so many memes and social media posts begging, “make it make sense!” But there is no making sense of blatant lies and reckless destruction. Trying to square the circle will only drive us mad.
I think what’s exceptionally tough about this moment is that the danger feels acute when actually it is chronic, and that makes it hard to calibrate an appropriate response. Yes, the sky is falling. Yes, we are witnessing the rise of an authoritarian kleptocracy in America. It feels urgent because it is devastating, and because it is happening very quickly and on a massive scale. But now that the electoral fork in the road is behind us, we have to gear down and pace ourselves for the long haul.
Pick your battles. Stay informed so you can participate responsibly in public life. But also stay sane, stay healthy, stay sovereign over your own mind.
Cultivate joy as a radical act of resistance. Create things that delight you, and share them. Hug people. Speak truth to power, starting with speaking your own truth to the power inside you. And always, always, choose the life that your pure, wild self came here to live.
xo
Healers and coaches: Now’s the time to write that book!
The world needs the guidance of wise, principled helpers more than ever right now.
Is it time for you to write your self-help book?
I’m teaming up with my friend, Ruby Warrington, the best-selling author of Sober Curious and Women Without Kids, for Words That Heal, an inspiring and informative publishing workshop expressly designed for those in the helping professions.
We’re hosting this in-person retreat at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health (in Stockbridge, Mass.) from April 25-27.
If you’re a healer, therapist, or coach who wants to write a book, here’s why you should join us.
Get real-time feedback on your work-in-progress book project as you:
Uncover your book’s unique aspects to make it a best-seller.
Connect your life’s mission and passions to readers’ needs and interests.
Understand the fundamentals of book proposal development.
Navigate the three main publishing models and choose the right path for you.
Discover what publishers look for in an author and how you can leverage your strengths.
Learn ways to incorporate your personal story into a self-help book.
Build community with like-minded people who are on the same path.
It’s super affordable: Tuition is just $399 plus the cost of accommodation.
This heart-centered experience will accelerate your journey toward becoming a published author while serving your soul’s calling. Return home inspired and with an insider’s look into the publishing world.
Publish your book with Wonderwell Press
Do you have a finished manuscript or work-in-progress that you want to get published? Looking for editorial and marketing support from smart, experienced publishing professionals? Submit your project to Wonderwell Press below, and your book could be in stores before the end of this year.