Wherever you are, take a breath. A deep one. 

Good. Now, take another. 

Remember, sweet ones: wherever you are, whatever is happening, you’re in a story. The story isn’t over yet. As long as you are alive, it continues to shift under your feet, and you’ll grow and change within it. 

Let’s consider an often-used storytelling device called “raising the stakes,” where the challenges within the story grow, which escalates the tension inside the story. The phrase “out of the frying pan, into the fire” matches this idea, but after that, you’ll need to add: “then into the bonfire, and maybe even a wildfire after that.” 

If a storyteller handles “raising the stakes” poorly, it’ll just feel like the situation in a story is going from bad to worse, and the characters are getting pummeled for no good reason. 

But if a storyteller handles “raising the stakes” skillfully, the story will feel like the characters are growing with each challenges they face, no matter how tough it gets. 

History is just one more story, sweet ones. Just the same way you are living your own story, history is played out by a group of people rather than individuals. National histories, for example, are played out by every single individual who participates in that nation. Global histories, by extension, are written by everyone.

“Current Events” is just another name for “History-in-Progress,” and each of us are participating, regardless of your age, background, heritage, and official citizenship according to the current laws. 

In the past few years, and especially in the past year (and even just today), we have seen the stakes get raised in our history-in-progress. Tension has escalated as event after event hits—both in your personal life and on the collective stage—leaving us all feeling pummeled. 

But stories aren’t defined by the raising stakes. 

Stories are defined by how individuals respond to the raising stakes. 

That response may not happen at the same moment that the stakes get raised. It make take a week, a month, a year, a decade. With some stakes, especially events happening in your formative years, you may spend the rest of your life responding to what has happened. 

As long as you are alive, you have the ability to respond to what is happening around you—whether it is as individual as your own story or as collective as the history of the country you live in. 

Today, if you have fear, anger, or other forms of grief raging through you, make some room for them. In the immediate aftermath of an event, meeting your emotional needs is always a healthy response. It allows you to have enough bandwidth to integrate your experience. After integration, you’re better equipped to find the most impactful and sustainable way to respond, the one that fits you, your talents, and your vision. 

Right now, take another deep breath, and take care, sweet ones. 

We’re still in that murky middle of our story, and together, we’ll write the next chapter.

Originally posted on Instagram on 1/6/21