It can feel overwhelming to think about the future.
I don’t have easy answers here. I do know it is possible to pick oneself up in most situations, and where I imagine most people are at is no exception.
That’s easy to know in theory. It’s much harder to know the steps to get there.
In 2018, I was living through the worst year of my life, the world shattered around me. I tried a lot of things to get out of that dark place, but ultimately there wasn’t any single solution, given the complexity that life is often made up of.
In some ways, I’m still working on getting better.
And though this year has actually been pretty good for my own personal healing, I still remember what it was like back then, constantly looking toward the future, dwelling in what I had lost, and feeling afraid that I wouldn’t be able to make it back.
During whatever period one might call normal, the usual things that come to mind when looking toward the future are pretty big. It can be tempting to follow those same familiar scripts, even when the world shifted. What career shifts will I make? What are the next steps to accomplish my goals? How can I have an impact?
But, if you’re like me, when you don’t have a stable foundation, those can feel so overwhelming and detached from the current reality that you feel lost.
The thing is, realistically, all of that big picture stuff takes a thousand little things to even work.
If you have grand goals, those little things might seem inconsequential by comparison. You might not even notice how important they are, how they support you.
But these steps matter to building a better future. Because maybe you can’t change the world in one night.
Keeping in touch with friends, getting good sleep. Eating well, or you know, whatever well means for you. Taking vitamin D. And watering your plants.
Maybe you set aside some time to care for the people you love, to get to sleep a bit earlier, or to finally write that post that you were hoping to all those months ago. All these little things can work towards stability and strength.
For me, at least, that was crucial.
I had to take several steps back and take a break. And work on the smaller things. And it took far longer than I’d like to admit to realize that.
I wish that I’d figured out how to feel okay, focusing on the little things sooner. Such that brighter futures seemed more possible.
So while I can’t give an exact roadmap, here’s a suggestion if you’re struggling: it’s okay to focus on the now.
On a smaller scope of what you can do, and what you can control. You can think about yourself; you can think about your friends, your family, your loved ones. You can think about this next minute, this next day, this next week. Think about the smaller things that bring you light.
Now, looking around, even through the limited interface, I can see a lot of people in this room. Some of us know each other pretty well. Others, maybe not so much. But regardless of how we got here, we are all here, together, celebrating the longest night of the year. There’s a lot of light here. That’s pretty special. Remember that.
And remember that many of your peers here are fighting for brighter futures, too.
There are futures that are worth protecting. And it’s worth taking those little steps to get to them be those steps taken alone or together.
So even if the light at the end of the tunnel seems dim from where you are, remember that there is still a light somewhere.
Remember that you are not alone in this fight.
Though we can’t be together physically, or working on the same things in each moment, we can at least be together in spirit.
To borrow from another Solstice speech: We are each a part of the story of humanity. Our pursuit of truth, our pursuit of meaning, and our pursuit of happiness, in some ways they are incredibly fragile. But compared to any one of us, they are incredibly difficult to extinguish.
We, the people here tonight, and the people on this planet, we have the power to shape our stories, to bring light to their darkness, and to guide them into the future.
Together, we can bring light.
We will find a way through this.
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