When the World Feels Unbearable
Mindfulness is not clarity or calm. It is staying with what we would rather escape, the grief, the helplessness, the guilt of having a full fridge while others starve.
I do not usually write about headlines, but one stayed with me this week. It left me wondering what mindfulness really means when the world feels unbearable.
What follows are three pieces. Not answers, not lessons. Just attempts to stay present with what most of us would rather look away from.
Witness (Part 1 of 3)
Famine was declared in Gaza. The word itself feels impossible. I hear it and my mind tries to file it away, to make sense of it, to push it into a corner. But famine is not something to categorize. It is people with no food. It is hunger that does not end.
I notice what happens in me. First, the pull to look away. Then the impulse to get angry, to shout, to post. Both feel easier than sitting with the bare truth. Both keep me moving instead of feeling.
This is where mindfulness gets misunderstood. It is not clarity or calm. It is not peace. It is the opposite of escape. It is the practice of staying with what we would rather turn from. The grief, the helplessness, the guilt of having a full fridge while others starve.
And here I am, hearing the hum of that fridge. Staring at bread on the counter. Wondering what it means to eat while others cannot. Wondering if awareness matters at all in the face of famine.
Maybe it does not. Maybe it does. I do not know.
But for now, I am trying not to look away.
Reminder (Part 2 of 3)
When people hear the word mindfulness, they often picture calm. A clear mind. A soft breath that makes everything feel lighter.
But what about when famine enters the news. Or war. Or the kind of grief that leaves you wordless. Does mindfulness mean staying calm while the world breaks open.
No. That image of mindfulness is a distortion. A sellable version.
Real mindfulness is not clarity or calm. It is presence. It is staying with what we would rather escape. Sometimes that means rage. Sometimes guilt. Sometimes grief so sharp it feels unlivable.
Awareness does not erase those states. It lets them be here. It stops us from numbing, from scrolling past, from turning suffering into background noise.
Mindfulness is not about feeling good. It is about not looking away, even when every part of us wants to.
Question (Part 3 of 3)
Why not scroll past. Why not go numb. Some days I do. The headline flashes, my chest tightens, and I push it away. It is too much. I move on.
Other days I do not. I let the grief sit with me. I feel the heaviness in my body, the helplessness I would rather escape.
Neither one feels good. Looking away brings relief but also a dullness, like shrinking inside myself. Staying present hurts, but it feels closer to being alive.
Maybe there is no right or wrong here. Maybe mindfulness is not about always choosing one over the other. Maybe it is just about noticing the moment I turn away, and the moment I do not.
And letting that noticing be enough.
Closing
There is not a neat ending to this. Each part is just another angle on the same truth. Mindfulness is not about calm, or escape, or answers. It is about noticing what happens when we face what we would rather avoid, and also what happens when we do not.
I can only share what that looks like in me. The rest is yours. How do you meet the moments you would rather scroll past. What shifts in you when you stay, and when you turn away.
Maybe the practice is simply noticing. Maybe that is enough.
If this message resonated with you, I invite you to share it forward.
Wellness expands when we pass it on, a moment of stillness, a shift in perspective, a reminder to pause. I can’t tell you how many times someone has reached out to say, “Your message came through just when I needed it.” This is why we share. You never know whose day, or mindset, you might help shift with a single post or message.
So if something here spoke to you, don’t keep it to yourself.
Send it to a friend. Post it on your feed. Mention it to someone who might need to adjust their script. One small action can ripple in powerful ways.
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