Yesterday, as I straddled the line between sleep and waking, teetering between slipping back into dreams or allowing my mind to pull me into full consciousness, I was given two words: Capitulation and Indignation.
Sometimes, the downloads I receive in this liminal space answer lingering questions or thoughts, whether from the night before or long before then. I can trace the string of thoughts that led to these words, grateful that the chaos of contemplation was distilled into tangible insights.
In a previous blog (https://www.customdesignedwellness.com/post/the-heart-drop-tuning-into-the-energy-of-your-own-rythm), I explored the whirlwind of mental chatter and the profound benefits of dropping our minds into our hearts. Science backs it up and so does experience. Clarity, when it comes, is a heart-drop moment—a shift from mind-racing creation mode to focused expression. That’s when I write blogs, craft reels, or create content to share or tuck away for the books I’m developing.
(How they will be published is another conversation. I may self-publish, or I may find a publisher. But I refuse to pay the moon for the “privilege” of lining someone else’s pockets. I want a publisher with good editors, reasonable pricing, a collaborative marketing approach, and a commitment to ensuring I retain the rights to my words and cover art forever. You’d be surprised how hard that is to find, but I may have found it.)
The Energy of the World
Back to Capitulation and Indignation. Their arrival wasn’t random. They came in response to thoughts stirred after watching Stephen Colbert’s Monday night monologue. As he does after a break, he returned attempting to catch us up on what he had missed—things we, fortunately or unfortunately, had already been living through. His energy was intense, frustrated, exasperated. I laughed where humor was intended but went to bed knowing that much of what he spoke about wasn’t funny at all.
So at first as I surfaced from sleep, my thoughts turned to the energy we feel when in turmoil. Not the best way to start the day, but I knew my thoughts were onto something I'd put into words here. Thoughts about our choices. How do we choose to respond to the energy around us? Some feel the weight of tumult; others feel invigorated by it. Two sides of the same coin, depending on how it flips. Some feel victorious, ready to do sideline backflips. Others feel victimized, flipping out on the front lines.
Then, clear as day, those two words landed: Capitulation and Indignation—followed by the phrase, throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Capitulation is going belly up, letting both baby and bathwater be tossed. Those doing the throwing? They become indignant when challenged, firm in their rightness, regardless of the era.
If you’re reading this through a political lens, poised to dismiss it, I invite you to stay. This is not about sides—it’s about the choices we make within ourselves.
The Power of Choice
If we don’t know ourselves first, we can’t make choices from a place of balance. Instead, we fall into extremes—taking sides, feeling powerless, or inflating into indignation, trampling those who disagree.
Powerlessness breeds depression, fear, and rage. It festers when we seek security and answers externally, making us feathers in the wind, swayed by others’ truths instead of standing in our own.
I feel we have fallen victim to a few things: an inability to discern, a refusal to learn and fear of collaboration. We’ve lost the skill of sifting through information critically—right when misinformation thrives most. When we narrow our view to a single perspective, we don’t just lose nuance; we risk losing the ability to think for ourselves altogether and think about others at all.
In an age of algorithms and information manipulation, we must pause. Are we consuming fear-based narratives? Are we discerning, seeking clarity? Are we asking for help in doing so? Many choose spoon-fed stories that align with their beliefs—it’s easy. But it’s harder to reject the spoon. Harder still to learn to cook for ourselves.
And yet, we must. We must each grab the knife of discernment, cut through the fat, remove the gristle, and seek the nourishing truth beneath. No external authority will ever make us feel secure, seen, or valued—if we do not first feel that way within ourselves; the truth within ourselves.
The Rapids Before the Fall
Some see the world spinning into chaos. Experience will tell us the pendulum of chaos often swings wildly before finding equilibrium and finding it takes time. Some believe we are witnessing the reckless discarding of wisdom alongside corruption, using sledgehammers to affect reckless changes instead of precision tools for responsible adjustments. Some celebrate the sledgehammers. Others don’t care about the baby or the bathwater or what else gets tossed, they only care about their own agenda. And we all witness the chaos, react to the turmoil and feel pulled towards right or wrong, win or lose, us or them.
But we don’t have to accept false binaries. We don’t have to be corralled into only two lanes.
There’s an old adage: How do you eat a bear? Answer: One bite at a time. So as we face the bear before us, however you define the animal, in times of stress, we either gorge on reinforcements of our beliefs or starve ourselves of perspectives that challenge them. We lose our ability to accept the possibility there’s more than one good choice. More than either/or, and more than one way to deal with the bear.
Standing at the Falls
As I made my way to the kitchen for coffee, I turned on a message from Ginette Biro, one of my daily go-tos. That morning, she shared an image from her spirit guides: a waterfall. She explained, "Just because we may not be going over a waterfall doesn’t mean we must turn our backs on those who are. Nor must we watch the waterfall with despair. We can be conscious observers without being consumed. Because many of us struggle with taking on the plight of humanity as our own."
Bingo.
We want to help. We want to make a difference. But not all of us are meant to jump into the current or even get wet. If we all jump because someone says “jump,” then what? And if we don’t, then what?
The first choice we must make is awareness. The first act of self-preservation is putting on our own oxygen mask. But self-care isn’t easy, especially if we were never taught how, if we were shamed for it, or if we forgot how much we matter.
Even when the world feels scary.
Even when our friends disagree with us.
Even when we don’t know where to turn.
Even when we are mad as hell, afraid as fuck, feeling powerless or acting with aggression.
We matter. No matter what.
Navigating the Rapids
The rapids leading up to the waterfall are like our thoughts—a raging torrent. Some stay in them, gripping their oars of indignation, convinced they have the right gear—their beliefs, their self-righteousness. They speed toward the falls. Others, too exhausted to fight, get pulled under by the weight of their own capitulation.
But there are more choices. Like the bear, like the spoon, like the waterfall, we are not limited to two options. We can stand on the shore and observe. We can navigate with intention. We can see the rapids for what they are: a challenge, but also an opportunity for awareness.
If we choose the water, let it be with conscious navigation. We may enjoy the ride, knowing the waterfall is ahead, but when we reach it, we will choose our course: brace for impact, change direction, or trust that beyond the drop, the waters will smooth out again.
The waterfall is only the end if we allow it to be.
The choice is ours.
And it’s our choice to matter enough to ourselves to choose for ourselves.
Namaste, and thank you for reading,
Lauri
©Lauri Stern - Custom Designed Wellness
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