If you are outraged...

The other day, I stumbled upon the remarkable Andrea Gibson on the F**cking Cancelled podcast. Often, I listen to podcasts while doing the dishes, folding laundry, walking Daisy. Within a few minutes of hearing Andrea’s voice though, I knew this was going to be a ‘sit down’ podcast. I was going to need to sit down, pay attention, take notes, pause and rewind to get all the wisdom recorded in my notebook.

Andrea starts the podcast by quoting her therapist who says…

“The only thing we have control over in this life is where we put our attention.”

-Andrea Gibson’s therapist

This is not a new to me concept but the thoughts that followed were. Andrea speaks to the pressure many of us feel these days to be constantly vigilant, constantly upset, constantly worried about climate change, reproductive rights, gun control, white supremacy and so much more.

The list of legitimate problems is nearly endless which leads to an often heard refrain- “If you are not outraged, you are not paying attention.’

True.

And/But…

For Andrea, a spoken word poet with terminal cancer, she flips the quote to read

“If you are outraged, you are not paying attention.”

-Andrea Gibson

Hold on…

This was when my mind started spinning.

Andrea goes on to say “bitterness is the easiest way to leave the world having only a near-life experience.” Andrea’s point here is that if we are only paying attention to what causes outrage, we risk missing all the rest. And there is so much more.

Andrea’s words and thoughts spoke so loudly to me that I needed to share them here.

I spend a lot of time worrying. Worrying in general. Worrying about the girls. Worrying about the world. All this time spent worrying takes away from time that my brain could be thinking about other things. Things that are beautiful. Things that are funny. Even just things that are neutral.

It is often said that writers write what they, themselves, need to hear and today’s writing is that for me.

As always, I would love to hear your thoughts! Please share in a comment or simply by responding if this newsletter arrived in your inbox.

xo,

Stacey

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