{life lab} when the storms roll in :: go tiny go vast

How are you?

Really?

Our family has had a year full of wonder and stress. And I do not think it is just us. It seems like many people I know are struggling. With divorce, family strife, losing things that thought they had a tight grip on, and willingly giving up stuff they no longer need. Deaths, moves and crushing disappointments seems to be in no short supply.

So, what do you do when you are sad and depressed? Frayed and bruised?

I was thinking about this recently. What is the difference between the people who can weather the storm those who get pulled under the wave? Is it just personality? Or are their skills and strategies that can help. I would guess it is probably a bit of both (most things are a bit of both, don't you think?)

If your survival is day to day - and you really need to get out of your mind for a while and find some perspective, try this:

Go tiny or vast.

Get out of the middle and drift towards the edges. That is where wild creatures of change reside and they will welcome you in with gifts of full bowls of awareness and clear vision.

Part meditation, part entrainment,  focusing on the minute or the huge - very often jolts or cracks you out of yourself long enough for the fog to lift and variant views to emerge.

go tiny ::

lay on your belly in the grass and watch the ground
look closely at anything, for a long time (shell, seed, feather, your hand, dust motes)
and my very favorite, microscope some pond water
make a window seal altar
investigate the corners of your home
look under the leaves and rocks in your yard
sprout some bean seeds in a moist paper towel in a jar
write a secret under a table or in a door jamb
pray
watch a bug
make a miniature world with your kids using plastic figures and blocks
go to the library's biology section, get a book about microorganisms and draw them
watch Microcosmos, Genesis, or The Fox and the Child
read The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating

GO VAST ::

people watch, forget yourself and absorb the energy of a crowd
lay on your back and watch clouds or the stars
sit at any water's edge (lake, river, sea)
climb a tree
visit the planetarium
release a sky lantern (safely)
take a boat ride (canoe, kayak, paddle boat...)
draw on butcher paper
play on Google Earth (look up your childhood homes and foreign cities)
go to a concert, play or sports event feel the energy of the crowd
fly a kite
pray
buy a rocket kit at the hobby store and send it off
watch Carl Sagan, Jaques Cousteau or Stephen Hawking

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Please share your ideas for going tiny and going vast. 

What do you do when you just have to grit your teeth and soldier through?

Interested in uncovering and pursuing the creative inklings that wake you up at night? 

Wondering how to launch your own projects in the midst of a swirling, chaotic family life? 

Check out my newest project :: Dream Lab. We are registering now and would love to share and support your ideas - tiny and vast.