Grounding & Action

I am starting this walking and talking outside. I looked to the right and saw this beautiful tall plant with white flowers and let myself enjoy it. I later noticed some rushing water and enjoyed the noise that has always been one to calm my spirit. No wonder, it’s one of the four elements; water, fire, earth and air.

What element is quite calming to your nervous system?

Here are some ideas for the different elements:
Fire: have a bonfire, light a candle, cook with gas stovetop
Water: Enjoy a bath, drink ice water, sit near a body of water
Earth: Place feet or hands in the ground, plant something, sit under a tree
Air: feeling the breeze on your skin, place a fan towards your face, watch a candle flame flicker

You can get creative with ways to combine them and take a moment to notice and savor each element.
If inside: Sit with a candle and your ice water, by an indoor plant with a fan blowing on your skin
If outside: Sit by a body of water, with hands on the ground, feel the breeze and heat of the sun as fire

I can’t imagine how discussing ways to ground with the elements is important in 2025. ;)

I heard about Cory Booker‘s 24 hours plus filibuster and was inspired by him focusing on an action he could take to get into as he quoted John Lewis, “good trouble."

In this time, it is tempting for our nervous systems to go into despair, fear, flight, fight, freeze. This will happen at times, and frankly it should based on events that are happening in our community and world. So let’s normalize these responses from our body and then focus on how we can care for our body through soothing & safety gestures.

Once regulated, we can wonder, what can we do to get into “good trouble?”

First reflecting on ourselves. What would it look like to advocate for yourself? How can you take up more space by asking for a need, expressing a desire or want. What would that be for you today? Also, can you accept that most of the time if we are getting a need met, someone is inconvenienced, and that is also okay. As I reflect on this question, I think taking up more space would look like deciding on a morning routine and asking for what I need to help make it happen for myself. I see a correlation between how I am caring for myself and how effectively I can care for others. For a woman, getting into “good trouble” often does tie to causing some disturbance because we dared to have a want, need, desire, goal, boundary that inconveniences someone else. As John Lewis also says, “find a way to get in the way.”

Next let’s reflect on our family unit. How can you, with your family, learn more about and engage in helping those with marginalized identities? This could mean visiting the library to find books on certain topics, hosting a yard sale to donate the funds or investing time in relationship with a local family. For myself, this is a reminder of my goal to host a local block party this summer to meet neighbors and start building relationships. This prompts me to figure out my first step to get the ball rolling and commit to making it happen the first weekend in June. I know more can happen in relationship, and that life satisfaction is highly dependent on the quality of our relationships, which is why this feels like an important goal to me. If you are interested in hosting a block party, this site has great resources.

Lastly, let’s reflect on our community. What is your community already up to you to support marginalized individuals and how would you like to play a role? I recently attended the Leadership Akron Institute and a presenter had us reflect on our “time, talent, treasure and ties” regarding how we could support local causes. Our capacities change in life seasons so we can decide what makes the most sense with our current life responsibilities. I’ll highlight how I am focusing on my “tithes,” specifically with how I choose to spend my money. This is aligned with “conscious consumption,” the chapter from Britt Hawthorne’s book, “Raising Antiracist Children.” My main goals are to buy almost all used items, nothing from Amazon, produce from a local orchard’s market, replace disposable products with sustainable as I run out and to intentionally make purchases from shops owned by people from the global majority.

So, 2025 moms. Let’s notice when our body is frazzled and start soothing, maybe with something from the elements. Then reflect on these areas to take some actions aligned with our values.

You are a bad ass. Your kids see that. They are little bad assess too, and sometimes just assess. ;)