A Letter for This Moment: When News Feels Like Fear
Dear soul,
I know how easy it is to feel undone by the news cycle — to wake up and reach for your phone, only to find yourself pulled under by stories of conflict, climate, loss, and uncertainty. The fear is real, but so is your capacity to anchor in something steadier.
Right now, many of us are learning how to hold dual truths: the world is hurting and we are allowed to stay grounded in love. Fear wants to rush us into fight-or-flight; love whispers us back into presence.
When the world feels divided, it’s easy to forget the deeper truth: we are one. Different languages, beliefs, politics, and stories — yet beneath it all, the same heartbeat. The same longing to be safe, to be loved, to belong. The news often amplifies the fractures, but our work is remembering the thread of humanity that connects us.
Practices to Anchor in Love & Presence
Here are simple practices to help you soften, ground, and remember what is truer than fear:
Hand on heart before headlines
Before you open the news, place your hand on your heart. Whisper: I am safe in this moment. I can choose how much I take in. This anchors your body before your mind floods with input.Set a sacred container for news
Give yourself a window of time for reading news, rather than all day. Ritualize it: light a candle, take a breath, and let it be intentional.Name the feeling, not just the fact
When fear rises, pause. Say to yourself: This is fear. Naming the emotion shifts your brain from panic into presence.Discern who deserves your energy
Not every debate is worth entering. As I heard in a training recently, there are different kinds of people you may encounter:Those who knowingly stir the pot, thrive on resistance, and feed on reactions.
Those who simply don’t know better — who may be misinformed, or shaped by outdated language or clickbait headlines.
Those who are open and willing to learn, even if imperfect in their words.
Save your breath for the second and third groups. Educate where curiosity is alive, extend compassion where ignorance has roots, and remember — you are not here to battle those committed to stirring chaos.
Counter-scroll with beauty
After reading something heavy, deliberately seek out something nourishing — music, poetry, stepping outside, touching the earth. Let your nervous system taste balance.Offer small acts of love
Fear contracts; love expands. Write a kind text, water a plant, smile at a neighbor. Small actions remind you that love is still here, embodied through you.Practice the “enough prayer”
Whisper: It is enough to stay present. It is enough to soften my shoulders. It is enough to breathe right here.
Sometimes the most radical thing you can do is give yourself permission to step back. Turning off the news for a day doesn’t mean you don’t care — it means you’re choosing sustainability over collapse. You are allowed to guard your energy, to decide who gets your attention, and to offer your empathy without drowning in it. Even small acts of kindness and truth-telling matter; they ripple outward more than you know. And when you feel alone in it all, remember: countless others are carrying the same ache, choosing love over fear alongside you.
A Gentle Reminder:
You don’t have to hold the entire weight of the world in your chest. You are allowed to feel, to care, to weep — and also to return to your own breath, to reclaim your presence.
When the news feels like fear, remember: fear divides, but love unites. You don’t have to change the whole world in one breath. You only have to return, again and again, to the love that lives inside you — the love that knows we are one.
With you in the pause,
Abby
@groundingu.therapy
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When the world feels divided, what helps me remember that we are one? How can I anchor in love — both for myself and for others — when fear tries to pull me apart?
"Turning off the news doesn’t mean you don’t care — it means you’re choosing sustainability over collapse."
